Characteristics of Burn Injuries in Urmia Burn Center, Iran Runinig Title: Burn Injuries in Urmia

Burn injury is a growing public health problem in developing economies such as Iran. The objectives of the study
were to identify characteristics of burn injuries in Urmia Burn Center in the province of West Azerbaijan in Iran
Methods:
A cross-sectional study was carried out during a 6-month period from 1st March 2008 to 1st March 2010.
Demographic information was gathered from the records. Statistical analysis was done by using software SPSS. P
value < 0.05 was considered significant.
Results:
All of 639 patients (48.3% female and 51.7% male) with burn injuries admitted were selected and their records were
studied. The most admitted patients were in the 16-25 years age group (31.8%). The most common cause of burning
was burning with flame accounted for 36.4% of admissions in males and 43.6% in females. Overall mortality was
25.9%. The percent of patients who had more than 40% BSA burned was 30.9%. Patients with > 40% BSA burn had
a mortality of 76.7%. The mean body surface area burned was 33.8% in males and 25.2% in females. Our results
showed that P. aeruginosa was the leading cause of nosocomial infections.
Conclusion:
A well-targeted prevention campaign program to reduce high mortality and nosocomial infections in this
environment by assessment and monitoring of burn wounds infections in burn centers is recommendable.