Childhood burns caused by stoves tipping over

Abstract

At COANIQUEM Burn Rehabilitation Centre (Saniago, Chile) 213 children with burns caused by a stove tipping over were attended during a one year period. These accidents occur because the patient or another ciñid leans on an open stove door, tilting the stove and in consequence a pot of hot liquid spills onto the child. This type of injury corresponds to 6.6% of chudren attending the wound care clinic. 151 (70.9%) were males and 177 (83.1%) were toddlers. These injuries caused multiple wounds in 144 (67.7%), the legs being most frequently involved (69.5%). 85 (39.9%) patients were hospitalised in other centres before or after their treatment in COANIQUEM, owing to the seriousness of their injuries. This rate triplicates that observed in those acute cases attending our institution. 71 out of 117 (60.7%) patients who were hospitalised or had ambulatory surgury remained in scar rehabilitation treatment one year later. The projection of this rate to the whole country seems to justify the adoption of specific preventive measures.