Current Trend in The Epidemiology of Thermal Burn Injury at a Tertiary Hospital in South Western Nigeria.

Worldwide, thermal burn is the leading etiological type of burn injury accounting for 86% of burn injuries requiring admissions. Flame, Scald, and contact burn are the leading causes of thermal burn. Changes in the sociodemographic characteristics of societies has led to alterations in the epidemiology of burn. An understanding of such changes in the epidemiology of burn is essential in formulating and executing adequate burn prevention programs. We sought to establish the current trend in the etiology, gender distribution, age, occurrence of inhalation injury, burn surface area, burn depth, and mortality rate of thermal burns at Ibadan. This was a retrospective study carried out between January 2013 and December 2022. Thermal burns constitute 92% of burn injuries. The male to female ratio was 1.4:1. There were 265(45%) patients in the pediatric age group, and 323 adults (55% of the patients). The proportion of flame, scald and contact burns were 378 (58%), 203 (32%), and 14(2%) respectively. Flame burns resulting from Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) explosion shows a rising trend, with decline in flame burns from kerosene (p<0.001). One hundred and ninety (32%) patients had inhalation injury. The overall mortality was 19% (N=114). Kerosene flame, 38% (17 out of 45 patients); and LPG Gas, 32% (41 out of 130 patients) were the most lethal causes of flame injuries (p<0.043). The study shows the increasing contribution of LPG Gas to the etiology of thermal burn injuries. Burn prevention programs should target safe use of LPG Gas stoves and cylinders.