There are special considerations that must be considered when dealing with a child burn victim. Children are common burn victims, making up one-third of total burn survivors. About 1000 children die each year in the US after sustaining burns. Preschool children are especially susceptible to house fires, making up 20 percent of all deaths from fires in the home.

There have been many advances in pediatric burn care over the last few decades so that about half of all children survive even with a 98 percent total body surface area burn. Mortality is greatest in the child less than two years of age and those that have burns over 95 percent of total body surface area.

The child burn victim’s initial care is no different from adults in many instances. The child must be removed from the burning area, and the burns must be cooled, taking care not to induce hypothermia. The child must have an established airway, and if there is evidence of smoke inhalation, a ventilation tube might be necessary. If the wound is around the entire chest, careful observation of the ability to expand the chest must be done continuously, and measures are taken to improve chest expansion performed if necessary.

Remember that the child’s circulatory system will be abnormal after a burn, with a lot of leakage of fluids out of the vascular system and tissues. The child can quickly go into shock if they don’t receive IV fluids through a regular peripheral IV or other IV access, such as a central venous catheter or an intraosseous line.

An intraosseous line is when the IV catheter is placed into the bone of the anterior tibial plateau, the medial malleolus, or the anterior iliac crest of the child’s lower extremities. These methods can offset a large amount of fluid being lost from the area of the burn. Fluid losses tend to be greater in children because they have a small bodyweight ratio to total body surface area.

Children are resuscitated from burns using unique formulas that allow for their body weight and percentage of the burned body surface.

When a child becomes dehydrated, signs such as low urine output and low blood pressure don’t show up until they have lost at least 25 percent of their total fluid volume. A rapid heartbeat may be the only sign of impending severe dehydration. The child should have a catheter placed so that urine volume can be measured.

Fluid must be given carefully as there are as many problems with giving too much fluid as too few fluids. Children can get fluid in the lungs and respiratory distress from too much fluid. They can develop compartment syndrome, which involves swelling around the chest, abdomen, or extremities, limiting blood flow to crucial areas. They can even get excess fluid on the brain, leading to cerebral edema.

Children are more prone to upper airway obstruction after an inhalation injury because they have narrowed airways than adults. They can develop airway swelling due to the excess volumes of fluid necessary to resuscitate them or injury to the tracheal lining from smoke inhalation. Early intubation with a ventilator tube is advised if it seems as though the airway is likely to be compromised.

Inhalation injuries are dangerous to children. The mortality rate with an ordinary burn is about 1-2 percent, but the death rate rises dramatically to 40 percent with an inhalation injury.   Using a hundred percent oxygen in suspected inhalation injury is strongly advised.

Burn injuries raise the metabolic rate of children dramatically. They can lose body mass from soft tissue and muscles at a high rate after a burn because the body needs those sources to burn calories for fuel.   The greater the area of the burn, the higher the degree of hypermetabolism. Oxygen is rapidly used up in the body, and there is a loss of protein, fat, and sugar stores. It can take up to six months to restore normal metabolism after a severe burn.

To stop the loss of lean body mass, growth hormone, insulin, insulin-like growth factor, and anabolic steroids are given to counteract what’s going on in the burn process.

Children can lose body temperature faster than adults, and care must be taken to reduce the amount of body heat lost during resuscitation.   They also need nutritional support through enteral feedings primarily. Enteral feedings are given using a tube passed from the nose through the esophagus and the stomach. This can feed the patient as they heal from the burn. Care must be taken not to overfeed as things like abdominal pain and diarrhea can develop.

A Child’s growth pattern can be delayed after a serious burn; they can slow bone growth that lasts up to two years after the burn injury.

Like adults, the fastest way to heal from a burn is to excise the burn and cover it with an autograft (skin from elsewhere on the patient’s body) or an allograft (skin from a cadaver donor). Doctors found that it is safe and effective to use this technique within 24 hours of sustaining the burn. Topical antimicrobial agents are also used to prevent infection.

The pain must be managed in the pediatric burn patient. Children show pain differently from adults at times. Hence, it is essential to recognize when pain occurs to fight off the psychological effects of having to suffer from excessive pain during hospitalization. Morphine and fentanyl are common medications used to handle burns in children.

Eventually, children heal to the point of needing rehabilitation. They need physical and occupational therapy to regain those developmental milestones lost from prolonged immobility, and they need psychological care to manage the intensity of the injury.

The YouTube video below provides instructions on caring for your child’s burn dressing.

If you or a loved one has suffered a severe burn injury due to someone else’s negligence, contact our experienced Sacramento burn injury lawyers at (916) 921-6400 or (800) 404-5400 for free, friendly advice.

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Editor’s Note: This page has been updated for relevance. [cha 5.20.22]

Photo by Caleb Woods on Unsplash [cs 1075]