Elsevier

Burns

Volume 28, Issue 6, September 2002, Pages 587-590
Burns

Hot iron burns in children

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0305-4179(02)00077-3Get rights and content

Abstract

Burns for contact with irons are an important preventable cause of burns in children. The objective of this study, was to document and describe these burns. The report describes 50 children with iron burns who were treated at our Burns Unit between 1997 and 2001. Methods: Prospective data collection demographics, nature of contact with iron, site, body surface area (BSA), medical and surgical interventions and complications and hand preference were examined. Results: The median of age patients was 17 months. The majority of burns were caused by touching the iron (44%) or by pulling the cord (38%). Most of the children were supervised (74%) and the iron was switched off in 34% of the injuries. Seventy-six percent of children sustained hand burns. Although, burn areas were relatively small, 36% required grafting. Residual scarring occurred in 42% and contractures in 10%. Surgical release of contractures was required in 4%. Conclusion: There is clearly a wide scope for prevention of hot iron burns. A public education campaign is now planned including: leaflets distributed at the point of purchase of the iron, public education via media outlets and lobbying of iron manufacturers to improve safety features.

Introduction

The Stuart Pegg Paediatric Burns Centre has observed a number of children admitted with thermal burns as a result of contact with a hot iron. Causes of contact burns are well documented, but relatively little has been written specifically on iron burns. However, in 1994 a study was published from this centre looking specifically at iron burns in children over a 3 years period from 1987 to 1991 [1].

One of the primary aims of the unit is to raise public awareness, concerning burns prevention, thus, reducing the number and severity of iron burns. The objective was to document and describe iron burns in children 10 years later and compare results with the previous paper to determine whether or not appropriate measures have been installed in an effort to prevent iron burns. Preventative measures that have been undertaken since the previous review are interviews by medical staff on radio, stressing the importance of the positioning of hot irons to minimise the risk of burns to children. Also, a child safety education centre on campus of the Royal Children’s Hospital, called Kidsafe House, has a pictorial display about the preventative measures for injuries from irons. Kidsafe House is visited by the public and perform tours for school children and tertiary education groups.

Section snippets

Methods

The Stuart Pegg Paediatric Burns Centre, which is based at Brisbane’s Royal Children’s Hospital, is the only tertiary referral unit for the treatment of paediatric burns in Queensland. Approximately 250 children are admitted to the Burns Centre per year, with inpatient and outpatient care being provided not only throughout the state, but also for children from northern New South Wales, Papua New Guinea and the regional Pacific.

Data was collected prospectively from all patients over a 4 years

Results

Fifty children with thermal burns resulting from contact with hot irons were identified during the study period. This represents approximately 5% of total admissions to the centre per year. The frequency of iron burns did not change throughout, nor was there any seasonal variation. The children were aged between 7 months and 8 years with a median age of 17 months (Fig. 1). The majority of burns (80%) occurred in children under 2 years of age. The male to female ratio was 1.9:1 with no

Discussion

To the best of our knowledge this is the largest iron burn study in a paediatric population in the world. Throughout the discussion comparisons will be made with the study conducted by Hollyoak et al. [1] at this centre a decade previously (1988–1991). There has been little change in the number of children presenting to the Stuart Pegg Burns Centre in the past 10 years with hot irons burns. Thirty-eight children (1988–1991), presented with iron burns compared to 50 children (1997–2001). The

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Dr. Deborah M. Bailey, Dr. Kelvin Choo, Associate Professor J. Fred Leditschke, Professor Stuart Pegg, and Dr. Rosslyn M. Walker for allowing us to include their patients in this study. To Rosemary Kolb for her secretarial help and to the entire Burns Unit team for their skills and dedication in the care of the children.

References (3)

There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

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