Syed Mukarram Ali, Syed Zubair Ahmed Tirmizi, Abdul Haq, Roohi Ehsan, Syeda Fizzah Tirmizi.
Etiological agents of burn and its associated mortality - a five year study.
Pak J Surg Jan ;31(4):269-74.

Objective: To determine the frequency of various types of burn and mortality associated with the etiological agents. Material and methods: Study conducted on 3,805 patients admitt ed during the period from January, 2007 to December, 2011 in a burn unit of teaching hospital of Karachi. Th e variables studied include gender, etiology, type of burn, mortality contributed by each etiological agent and year – wise clinical outcome. Results: Male predominance found with 55.74% males compared to 44.25 % females. A signifi cant diff erence found in burn victim trend by gender (Pearson Chi-Square test statistic =17.882; P- value = 0.001). 84.57 % admissions were due to fl ame burn, followed by electric (7.85%), scald (5.17%) and chemical burn (2.4%) respectively. A signifi cant diff erence found in burn victim trend by percentage distribution of burn outcome (Chi-Square test statistic =100.004; P- value = < 0.001). A reduction in mortality is evident in successive years. Overall there is increased rate of discharge, mortality and LAMA (leave against medical advice) consequent upon increased burden of admission of fl ame burn compared to the rest of the etiological agents. Electric burn showed year wise increasing trend and male dominance while chemical burn showed female dominance. Conclusion: Increased burden of admissions particularly due to fl ame burn and then electric burn with male dominance indicates risk taking att itude of males in our society. Mortality reduction in successive years is indicating eff ective management of burn. It requires further evaluation to achieve excellent results.

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