International Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation
Open Access

Abstract

Burn and Amputations: A Retrospective Analysis 379 Amputation out of 19,958 Burns in 10-year

Ki Un Jang, So Young Joo, Jee Hee Jo and Cheong Hoon Seo

Objective: Amputation in burn injury is a physical and psychological sequelae and greater complexity for the rehabilitation. We sought to review our ten years’ experience of amputation of burn to provide a basis for prevention, treatment and rehabilitation.
Methods: This is a retrospective study of burn patients admitted to the Hallym Burn Centre, during the period 2001-2010. Data were collected from medical records of 19,958 patients, and the amputation occurred in 379.
Results: The most common kind of burn was scald burn in 42.1%, followed by flame burn 33.6%, contact burn 10.8%, electrical burn 5.9%. The children under the age of 15 constituted about 29.1% (n=5818). Average hospital stay was 28.8 ± 0.9 days (P<0.05), the longest stayed in electrical burns in 72.6 days, and the shortest 16.6 days in scald burn. The amputation occurred in 379 out of total 19,958, the amputation rate was 1.9%, which was slowly decreased in the last ten years, changing from 2.3-2.6% to 1.2-1.4%. The amputation rate was highest in the electrical burn in 19.2%. The most common level of amputation was finger amputation in 168 as 42.0%, the 2nd was toe amputation in 80 as 16.9%, and the third was transhumeral amputation in 35 as 15.3%. Major amputation was 158 cases in 38.9%, minor amputation was 248 cases in 61.1%.
Conclusion: The information in this investigation would be expected to be helpful to promote to reduce the incidence of burn amputation and to promote the outcomes of rehabilitation in burn amputee.