Search

This is an epidemiological review of electrical burns admitted to the Service of Burns and Plastic Surgery, UHC "Mother Theresa" of Tirana, Albania, covering a four-year period, from 2019 to 2022. Twenty-seven patients were identified as having sustained an electrical burn injury, all of them males and most of them, namely 85%, belonging to the "working force" age group 19-65 years old. Most of the accidents, 70% of them, occurred at work, and these were all high voltage electrical burns. A total 65% of the cases had at least one of the upper limbs involved and the mean surface area burned was estimated at around 20% TBSA, mortality rate 11.1%, and all the fatal cases were from occupational burns. Serum level of BUN, creatinine and liver enzymes were evaluated on admission and at least 7 days after, with no significant changes. WBC count was found to be elevated in almost all the patients, and remained elevated in the second week and even longer for patients with sepsis. Four of our patients needed amputations. Besides these, no other serious complications were registered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is aimed at describing the patterns and trends of burns among children in the past 25 years in Albania, a transitional post-communist country in the Western Balkans. It included all burned children admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of the University Hospital Center "Mother Teresa" of Tirana in the past 5 years (i.e., 2018-2022). Overall, 275 children treated at the Service of Burns and Plastic Surgery were included in this analysis. Incidence of burns in children has importantly declined during the last 25 years. Of 275 children included in this study, 50.2% were boys and 49.8% were girls. The age range was from 2 months to 16 years. The number of children with burns declined progressively, but the lowest number was seen in 2020, which is explained by the Covid-19 pandemic. On the whole, the most affected age group is that of 1-3 year-olds. Regardless of age, hot liquids (51%) and pure hot water (39%) were the main causative agents of burns among children. There was an important decrease in the number of burns due to flame (from 18.5% to 7%) and chemical burns (from 5.9% to 1%). No electrical burns were found in the records. Most of the burned cases were burns of more than one site on the body, representing 35% of all the cases. Burns among children continue to constitute a significant burden of morbidity among Albanian children, which is a cause of concern. However, compared with 25 years ago, the total number of severely burned children has dropped in Albania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]