Epidemiology of Acid-Burns in a Major Referral Hospital in Tehran, Iran

Most of the acid- burns are due to assault or accidental. The
epidemiology of burns is diverse across the world and within a
country. We evaluated the epidemiology and outcome of acidburns
in tertiary health care center in Tehran, Iran.
METHODS
This study was retrospective descriptive among patients referred
for acid-burn injury that was done in a referral Burn Care Center
in Tehran, Iran, during a ten-year period since 2005 to 2014.
Patient’s data collected by a specially designed check list. The
subjects included 37 consecutive patients with various causes
of acid burn injury. Descriptive statistics (means with standard
deviations or frequency distribution) of sociodemographic
variables were computed.
RESULTS
The patients’ mean age was 31.97±11.02 years. The mean
hospitalization period was 18.08±15.25 days. The grade of burn
was III in 75.7% patients. Among the acid-burn patients, 64.8%
suffered from < 20% of total body surface area burn. Most
affected part of the body was Head /face/neck 17 (45.9%). Most of
the acid-burn occurred from attack (67.6%). Burns mortality rate
for this study was identified 8.1% (N=3).
CONCLUSION
The results of this study showed high acid attacks rates.
Prevention strategies must be coordinated at national level. So
acid-burn patients have to receive the best medical care possible,
first locally and then in a specialized center.