802 Increase in Surgical Burn Management During the COVID-19 Pandemic

TL;DR

The study found an 8.7% increase in pediatric surgical burn cases during the early years of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Contribution

The paper reports a novel observation of increased pediatric surgical burn cases during the pandemic.

Findings

There was an 8.7% increase in pediatric surgical burn cases from 2019 to 2020.

Split-thickness autograft was the most common surgical approach used.

The overall complication rate was 8.4% across the studied period.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on healthcare systems worldwide. This study explores the consequences of the pandemic on pediatric burn management, specifically focusing on whether the pandemic contributed to a surge in the volume of pediatric burns requiring surgical interventions.

All surgical cases that had a post-operative ICD-10 diagnosis of a burn was collected from the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program Pediatric database. Patient demographics, procedure codes, and postoperative complications was collected.

From 2018 to 2021, there was a total of 872 pediatric burns that required surgical intervention. The median age of the patients was 5.4 years. There was an 8.7% increase in volume of these cases from 2019 to 2020. The overall rate of complications was 8.4%. The predominant surgical approach employed in the majority of cases was the utilization of split-thickness autograft.

There was an increase in pediatric surgical burn treatment volume during the COVID-19 pandemic. Further investigation into the underlying causes and implications of this surge is warranted.

This analysis provides more information on the incidence of pediatric burns managed by surgical treatment and how it was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.