Severe burn injury in pregnancy in Northern Nigeria.

A total of 21 cases of severe burns in pregnancy managed at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, Maiduguri, over a 10-year period, spanning January 1991-December 2000 inclusively were reviewed. The pregnancy loss was 92.9%, with the pregnancies spontaneously terminated within 10 days of sustaining the injury. Maternal mortality was 47.6% with sepsis as the most common cause of death. It is advocated that viable pregnancies should be terminated as soon as the mother is resuscitated following severe burn injury. Prophylactic systemic antibiotics should be given to minimise the development of sepsis. Patients are best managed in the obstetrics ward during the first 2 weeks of injury. A multidisciplinary approach is encouraged in managing cases of severe burns in pregnancy.