Repeat Burn Injuries: Why Twice Unlucky?

The purpose of this study was to investigate patients who had a repeat burn injury. If repeat burn injury high risk groups can be identified, prevention methods can be utilized to possibly prevent repeat burn injuries from occurring. A literature review revealed no previous published articles on repeat burn injuries, however, a review of past American Burn Association Annual Meeting program books revealed 2 abstracts on this topic. One of these abstracts identified 3 groups of patients that were likely to experience a repeat burn injury. Burn patients who had been admitted as an inpatient to our Burn Center with a repeat burn injury were identified through the Burn Registry. Data on these patients was entered into Excel and included the following: age at time of both burns, time between burns, type of burn, circumstances of burn injury, percentage of body area burned, location of burn injury, inhalation injury, need for skin grafting, length of hospital stay, and hospital disposition. The patient's burn injuries were compared to one another, as well as, comparing the group. Also, the findings were compared to previous studies on repeat burn injuries.