Burn Injuries in Eastern Zambia: Impact of Multidisciplinary Teaching Teams

The American Burn Association/Children's Burn Foundation (ABA/CBF) sponsors teams who offer burn education to healthcare providers in Zambia, a sub-Saharan country. The goals of this study are 1) to acquire burn-patient demographics for the Eastern Province, Zambia and 2) to assess the early impact of the ABA/CBF-sponsored burn teams. This is a retrospective chart review of burn patients admitted in one mission hospital in Katete, Zambia, July 2002 to June 2009. July 2002 to December 2006 = data before ABA/CBF burn teams and January 2007 to June 2009 = burn care data during/after burn outreach. There were 510 burn patients hospitalized, male:female ratio 1.2:1. Average age = 15.6 years, with 44% younger than 5 years. Average TBSA burned = 11% and mean fatal TBSA = 25%. Average hospital length of stay = 16.9 days survivors and 11.6 days nonsurvivors. Most common mechanisms of burn injuries: flame (52%) and scald (41%). Ninety-two patients (18%) died and 23 (4.5%) left against medical advice. There were 191 (37.4%) patients who underwent 410 surgical procedures (range 1-13/patient). There were 138 (33.7%) sloughectomies, 118 (28.7%) skin grafts, 39 (9.5%) amputations, and 115 (28.1%) other procedures. Changes noted in the 2007 to 2009 time period: more patients had burn diagrams (48.6 vs 27.6%, P < .001), received analgesics (91 vs 84%, P = .05), resuscitation fluid (56 vs 49%, P = not significant [NS]), topical antimicrobials (40 vs 37%, P = NS), underwent skin grafting (35.5 vs 25.1%, P = NS), and underwent any operative intervention (40.6 vs 35.2%, P = NS), compared with patients treated between 2002 and 2006. This study represents the largest, most comprehensive burn data set for a sub-Saharan region in Africa. There has been a statistically significant improvement in documentation of burn size as well as administration of analgesics, validating the efficacy of the ABA/CBF-sponsored burn teams. Continued contact with burn teams may lead to increased use of resuscitation fluids, topical antimicrobials, and more patients undergoing operative intervention, translating into improved burn patient outcomes.