Pediatric oral burns: A ten-year review of patient characteristics, etiologies and treatment outcomes

ObjectiveTo summarize etiologies and treatments of pediatric oropharyngeal burns.DesignRetrospective summary of 75 patients treated from January 1999 to January 2009.SettingTertiary Children's Hospital.MethodsData collected included demographics, etiology of burn, site of injury, medical and/or surgical treatments, need for endoscopy, duration of hospitalization, and complications.Results75 patients were treated with 50 being males (66%). Mean age was 4.3 years (median 2.7 years). The five most common causes were chemical (34.6%), electrical (12.3%), hot liquids (12.3%), food (12.3%) and battery ingestion (9.9%). Ingestion of hair products made up nearly 1/3 of the chemical causes (9/28) and alone made up 12% of the burns in our study. Main sites of injury included buccal mucosa (77.3%), lips (56%), tongue (48%), and palate (22.7%). One-third of the patients’ required PICU/Burn unit admissions, 1/3 were admitted to floor, and 1/3 were discharged home from the ED. Average duration of hospitalization was 5 days. Of those admitted, 30% received antibiotics and only 8% received systemic steroids. Patients were made NPO on the first day of admission in 33.3% of patients and allowed to resume normal diet after surgical consultation. Only 9/75 (12%) patients required intubation. Otolaryngology consultation was obtained in 10.7% of cases. Only 18% of all patients required surgical intervention with debridement being most common (>60%). In this group, 20% received esophagogastroduodenoscopies due to ingestion of alkali substance. Complications occurred in less than 6% of all cases.ConclusionIngestion of chemicals, including hair dye/relaxer products, as well as overheated liquids and foods, are leading causes of oropharyngeal burns treated at our Children's Hospital Emergency Department over the past decade.