Epidemiology of isolated foot burns in children presenting to a Queensland paediatric burns centre— a two-year study in warmer climate

Florence Ngu, Bhaveshkumar Patel, Craig McBride

European studies of paediatric foot burns report scalds as the leading cause. Mechanisms of injury are different in warmer climates. We sought to characterize the mechanisms and outcomes of isolated foot burns in our population. Retrospective review of a prospectively collected database of all children aged 0-15 years presenting to a Queensland paediatric burns centre over a 26-month period. Non-parametric analyses such as the Mann-Whitney U and Pearson Chi-square were used. There were 218 children with foot burns treated over a period of 2 years and 2 months of which 214 had complete records. There were significantly more boys than girls (n = 134, 62.6% cf. n = 80, 37.4%, p < 0.0001). The leading mechanism of injury was a contact burn accounting for 63.1% (n = 135) followed by scalds (23.8%, n = 51). Friction, flame and chemical burns were a minority but were significantly deeper (p = 0.03) and significantly more likely to require grafting (p = 0.04) and scar management (p < 0.0001) compared to contact and scald burns. In our population, contact burns are the most common mechanism of injury causing burns to the feet. The leading aetiology is campfire burns, which account for one-third of all burns to the feet. Prevention campaigns targeted at this population could significantly reduce the burden of morbidity from these burns. Friction, flame and chemical burns constitute a minority of patients but are deeper and more likely to require skin grafting and scar management.