title: Young age is not a predictor of mortality in burns.
abstract: OBJECTIVE: Conventional wisdom and recently published reports suggest that children <48 months of age have a higher mortality rate after burns than older children and adolescents with similar injuries and that young age is a predictor of mortality. This study was done to validate or refute this impression. DESIGN: Retrospective review. SETTING: Regional pediatric burn center. PATIENTS: All children (n = 1223) managed over a recent 8-yr interval (1991-1998) for acute thermal burns. INTERVENTIONS: The survival rate of children <48 months of age was compared with the survival rate of children >/=48 months of age. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Of the 1112 children with burns covering <30% of the body surface, 721 (65%) were <48 months of age. After exclusion of one child who was brain dead and became a solid organ donor, there were no deaths in this burn size group. There were 111 children admitted with burns covering >/=30% of the body surface: 47 (42%) with an average age of 2.0 yrs (range, 4 wks to 3 yrs and 11 months) were <48 months of age, and 64 (58%) with an average age of 10.9 yrs (range, 4 yrs to 17 yrs) were >/=48 months of age. There were no clinically important differences between the two groups in burn size (51.9% +/- 18.1% [range, 30%-90%] vs. 56.9% +/- 19.4% [range, 30%-97%]; p =.18) or need for mechanical ventilatory support (30/47 [63.8%] vs. 44/64 [68.8%]; p =.59). The mortality rate in the young group was 0% (0/47) and 10.9% (7/64) in the older group (p =.04). All children who died had large burns (average burn size, 82.9% +/- 11.5%) with concurrent inhalation injury. CONCLUSION: Young age is not a predictor of mortality in burns.
authors.affiliation: Shriners Burns Hospital (Drs. Sheridan, Schnitzer, Schulz, Ryan, and Tompkins and Ms. Weber), the Department of Surgical Services, Massachusetts General Hospital (Drs. Sheridan, Schnitzer, Schulz, Ryan, and Tompkins), and the Department of Surgery, Harvard Medical School (Drs. Sheridan, Schnitzer, Schulz, Ryan, and Tompkins), Boston, MA.
authors.forename: Robert L.
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Sheridan
authors.forename: Joan M.
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Weber
authors.forename: Jay J.
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Schnitzer
authors.forename: John T.
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Schulz
authors.forename: Colleen M.
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Ryan
authors.forename: Ronald G.
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Tompkins