ORIGINAL ARTICLES

Neonatal burn injuries managed in a neonatal intensive care unit of a tertiary hospital in North-Central Nigeria

Simon J Yiltok¹, Akintunde J Akintayo², Bose Ozoiza Toma³, Udochukwu Michael Diala³, Atarang A Dafong², Christopher Y Karago⁴, Joshua D Choji⁵, Abdulquadri Idrisu⁶

¹Department of Surgery, University of Jos/Jos University Teaching Hospital, Jos, Nigeria
²Department of Surgery, Jos University Teaching Hospital, Jos, Nigeria
³Department of Paediatrics, University of Jos/Jos University Teaching Hospital, Jos, Nigeria
⁴Department of Plastic Surgery, Prince Mishari bin Saud Hospital, Baljurashi, Bahah Region, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
⁵Department of Surgery, Federal Medical Centre, Azare, Nigeria
⁶Department of Surgery, Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital, Lafia, Nigeria

Correspondence Address:
Prof. Simon J Yiltok
Department of Surgery, University of Jos/Jos University Teaching Hospital, Jos Nigeria

Source of Support: None
Conflict of Interest: None

Introduction: Neonatal burn injuries are rare in clinical practice. This explains the many case reports of such injuries. This is a report of our experience in the management of neonatal burn injuries in our centre.

Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective study of neonatal burn injuries that were managed over an eight year period (2014–2022). The information that was retrieved from the case notes included the socio-demographic data, birth weight, weight at admission, type of injury, total burn surface area (TBSA), depth of burn injury, type of treatment, length of hospital stay and outcome of care. The data were then entered into the SPSS version 25 (IBM Corp., United States) software and analysed.

Results: We managed 11 neonates, five males and six females with a male: female (M: F) ratio of 1:1.2. Their age ranged from zero to 25 days with a median (IQR) of 2 (1 -15) days. Eight (72.7%) of them were one to two days old and eight (72.7%) were admitted as out born. Majority (81.8%) of the mothers were primiparous women. Nine (81.8%) of the injuries were as a result of hot water bath. Most (66.6%) of these baths were done by the grandmothers or mothers of the babies. The total burn surface area (TBSA) ranged from 1% to 62%, with a median (IQR) of 11 (7.5 – 19.0). None of the babies had skin grafting. The length of stay (LOS) ranged from six days to 25 days with a median (IQR) of 11.0 (7.0 – 16.0) days. Only one baby died giving a hospital mortality rate of 9.1%.

Conclusion: The commonest cause of neonatal burn injury in this series is scald injuries from hot water bath. Providing education about safe bathing to caregivers should be included in routine antenatal and postnatal instructions in order to prevent burns.