title: The late appearance of scars after burns in childhood.
abstract: The late appearance of scars in children who had been burned, mainly scalded (n = 82, 90%) were analysed retrospectively from patient records and by clinical reassessment. All 91 patients who were re-examined had primarily sustained a burn of at least 5% of their total body surface area (TBSA). Only five patients showed no visible scars. The median interval between primary injury and re-examination was 17.3 years (range 6.4-30 years). Less than half of the patients (n = 36, 40%) had distinct scars without hypertrophy. The remaining 55 (60%) had either hypertrophic or constrictive scars. The scars were mostly located on the trunk (29%) and looked mainly hypertrophic (30.2%). The mean area of scars varied from 0.47% (on the neck) to 3.73% (on the left lower limb). There was no significant association between the appearance of the scar and any given method of treatment. The late cosmetic results were better than anticipated.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatric Surgery, Tampere University Hospital, Finland.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zeitlin
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Järnberg
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Somppi
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sundell
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002056:Burns / Q000473:pathology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002921:Cicatrix / Q000473:pathology*; D003251:Constriction, Pathologic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006984:Hypertrophy; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors