Epidemiology Of Thermal Hand Injury In Children And Youths In Russia And Abroad

Abstract

: Thermal hand injury (THI) is a severe open damage of superficial and deep hand tissues caused by exposure to high temperatures. THI is characterized by damage of different severity grades to the tissues and hand structures, vascular changes, occurrence of local and multipart inflammatory responses, formation of secondary cicatricial skin changes, as well as of inner tissues, and/or secondary deformation and dysfunction of the hand. Objective — Systematization and update of knowledge about THI occurrence frequency among children and youths. Material and Methods — We analyzed full-text publications originated in Russia and abroad, including: original articles, thematic and systematic reviews, along with Cochrane Reviews. Our search covered the articles published in 2011-2021. We analyzed 368 publications and included 29 studies in our analysis. Results — Mean frequency of THI occurrence among children and youths was as follows: 10.0% in countries of South-East Asia, 12.3% in Mediterranean countries, 23.9% in European countries, 28.4% in Western Pacific countries, 33.0% in African countries, and 36% in countries of the Americas. Mean frequency of THI occurrence among children and adolescents worldwide was 31.3%, and 29.5% in Russia. Conclusion — Mean frequency of THI occurrence, compared with other thermal injuries in children and adolescents, is quite high and makes up for about one-third of all cases (31.3%). Hence, an importance of this interdisciplinary problem in combustiology, as well as in traumatology and plastic surgery, since the long-term consequences of THI in people who experienced it in their childhood or adolescence largely depend on close interaction of physicians representing various specialties.