PEDIATRICS Vol. 80 No. 1 July 1987, pp. 18-21
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Contact Burns of the Hand

Richard Shugerman MD1, Fred Rivara MD, MPH1, Ruth Ann Parish MD1, and David Heimbach MD1

1 From the Departments of Pediatrics and Surgery and The Harborview Injury Prevention Center, The University of Washington, Seattle

Contact burns of the hand in children present difficult management questions. Because visual inspection of the acute wound often fails to distinguish major burns requiring inpatient treatment from minor burns amenable to outpatient therapy, we sought to identify characteristics of patients that would aid in decision making at the time the burn patient is seen. During the 5-year period, 1980 to 1984, 32 children less than 14 years of age were admitted to our medical center with contact burns of the hand. Patients were divided into two groups: those with major burns requiring ge seven days of hospitalization (n = 16) and those with minor burns requiring < seven days of hospitalization (n = 16). Compared with patients in the minor burn group, patients in the major burn group were hospitalized longer (16.9 ngr 2.8 days), were more likely to require surgical excision and grafting (63% ngr 0%), and had more extensive follow-up (5.3 ngr 2.5 visits). There were no significant differences between the two groups with regard to percentage of area burned, age, sex, primary admission ngr referral, and cause of burn. These data support the recommendation that all such burns be managed initially on an inpatient basis.

Key Words: contact burn • partial-thickness burn

Submitted on April 28, 1986
Accepted on August 18, 1986