title: The past 25 years of pediatric burn treatment in Graz and important lessons been learned. An overview.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aim of this study was to characterize the epidemiology of pediatric and adolescent burns admitted to the Children's Burns Unit at the Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Austria, between January 1st 1988 and December 31st 2012.
  
  
  METHODS
  This is a retrospective review over the past 25-years and describes admission rate by gender and age groups, causes of burns, anatomical sites of burns, extent and depth of injury, length of hospital stay, child abuse and in-hospital mortality.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the studied 25 year-period, 1586 pediatric burn patients were admitted. 1451 patients were "acute" admissions, 64 "secondary" admissions and 71 patients did not fulfill the inclusion criteria. Of the 1451 patients, 930 (64%) were male and 521 (36%) female. The majority of patients - 880 or 60.6% - were children from 1 to 5 years of age. Domestic burns occurring at home resulted in 1164 (80.2%) of injuries and scalds were the most common type of thermal trauma with 945 (65.1%) patients. According to the extent of injury 1106 (76.2%) patients suffered burns of <10% with an median length of hospital stay of 3 days. 14 children (0.98%) - 8 girls and 6 boys - were confirmed victims of abuse and 4 patients (0.3%) died.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study provides a good opportunity to review changes in burn care over a long time period, at a single center, including children and adolescents, with stable surgical and rehabilitation staff. The data is also important for the design of prevention programs and establishment of burn care capacities, since the analysis showed no change in the incidence of burn related admissions over the time period studied.
authors: Children's Burns Unit, Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria. Electronic address: marija.trop@medunigraz.at.
authors: Marija
authors: M
authors: Trop
authors: Institute for Medical Informatics, Statistics and Documentation, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria. Electronic address: herzog.sereina@gmail.com.
authors: Sereina A
authors: SA
authors: Herzog
authors: Children's Burns Unit, Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria. Electronic address: klaus.pfurtscheller@klinikum-graz.at.
authors: Klaus
authors: K
authors: Pfurtscheller
authors: Children's Burns Unit, Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria. Electronic address: angelika.hoebenreich@gmail.com.
authors: Angelika M
authors: AM
authors: Hoebenreich
authors: Division of Plastic, Esthetic and Reconstructive Surgery, Department of Surgery, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria. Electronic address: michael.schintler@medunigraz.at.
authors: Michael V
authors: MV
authors: Schintler
authors: Division of Anesthesiology for Cardiovascular Surgery and Intensive Care Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria. Electronic address: andrea.stockenhuber@klinikum-graz.at.
authors: Andrea
authors: A
authors: Stockenhuber
authors: Division of Plastic, Esthetic and Reconstructive Surgery, Department of Surgery, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria. Electronic address: lars.kamolz@medunigraz.at.
authors: Lars-Peter
authors: LP
authors: Kamolz
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D017677:Age Distribution; D001317:Austria / Q000453:epidemiology; D001830:Body Surface Area; D002053:Burn Units; D002056:Burns / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D017678:Sex Distribution; D015599:Trauma Severity Indices
keywords: Burn center; Burns; Epidemiology; Length of hospital stay (LOS); Pediatric; Prevention