title: Pediatric superficial scald burns--reassessment of our follow-up protocol.
abstract: The most common pediatric burn injury is a superficial scald. The current follow-up protocol for such burns includes review of the patient at 2 weeks postinjury and then 2 months later. The authors decided to review the protocol to assess the need for this second follow-up. A retrospective study reviewed the case notes of patients younger than 16 years at the time of their injury presenting with a scald over 5% TBSA. The progress of healing and scar development up to 5 years follow-up was assessed. This study showed that scalds healing within 2 weeks following injury rarely became hypertrophic. A prospective study was performed over a 10-month period. All children who suffered a superficial partial-thickness scald injury were included. At the 2-week appointment, the need for further follow-up was predicted. The accuracy of this prediction was assessed 2 months later. This study showed that an experienced member of the burns team could reliably predict at 2-week appointment those children who could be safely discharged with no subsequent need for scar management. This study suggests that it will be safe to modify the follow-up protocol, reducing the number of clinic attendances.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic Surgery, Frenchay Hospital, Bristol, UK.
authors.forename: Francesco M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Egro
authors.forename: Jennifer K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: O'Neill
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Briard
authors.forename: Tania C S
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Cubison
authors.forename: Alan R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Kay
authors.forename: Catalina M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Estela
authors.forename: Timothy S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Burge
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002056:Burns / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D017439:Cicatrix, Hypertrophic / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control; D002985:Clinical Protocols; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D020380:Needs Assessment; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014945:Wound Healing