OBJECTIVE: To summarize etiologies and treatments of pediatric oropharyngeal burns. DESIGN: Retrospective summary of 75 patients treated from January 1999 to January 2009. SETTING: Tertiary Children's Hospital. METHODS: Data collected included demographics, etiology of burn, site of injury, medical and/or surgical treatments, need for endoscopy, duration of hospitalization, and complications. RESULTS: 75 patients were treated with 50 being males (66%). Mean age was 4.3 years (median 2.7 years). The five most common causes were chemical (34.6%), electrical (12.3%), hot liquids (12.3%), food (12.3%) and battery ingestion (9.9%). Ingestion of hair products made up nearly 1/3 of the chemical causes (9/28) and alone made up 12% of the burns in our study. Main sites of injury included buccal mucosa (77.3%), lips (56%), tongue (48%), and palate (22.7%). One-third of the patients' required PICU/Burn unit admissions, 1/3 were admitted to floor, and 1/3 were discharged home from the ED. Average duration of hospitalization was 5 days. Of those admitted, 30% received antibiotics and only 8% received systemic steroids. Patients were made NPO on the first day of admission in 33.3% of patients and allowed to resume normal diet after surgical consultation. Only 9/75 (12%) patients required intubation. Otolaryngology consultation was obtained in 10.7% of cases. Only 18% of all patients required surgical intervention with debridement being most common (>60%). In this group, 20% received esophagogastroduodenoscopies due to ingestion of alkali substance. Complications occurred in less than 6% of all cases. CONCLUSION: Ingestion of chemicals, including hair dye/relaxer products, as well as overheated liquids and foods, are leading causes of oropharyngeal burns treated at our Children's Hospital Emergency Department over the past decade.
OBJECTIVE: To summarize etiologies and treatments of pediatric oropharyngeal burns. DESIGN: Retrospective summary of 75 patients treated from January 1999 to January 2009. SETTING: Tertiary Children's Hospital. METHODS: Data collected included demographics, etiology of burn, site of injury, medical and/or surgical treatments, need for endoscopy, duration of hospitalization, and complications. RESULTS: 75 patients were treated with 50 being males (66%). Mean age was 4.3 years (median 2.7 years). The five most common causes were chemical (34.6%), electrical (12.3%), hot liquids (12.3%), food (12.3%) and battery ingestion (9.9%). Ingestion of hair products made up nearly 1/3 of the chemical causes (9/28) and alone made up 12% of the burns in our study. Main sites of injury included buccal mucosa (77.3%), lips (56%), tongue (48%), and palate (22.7%). One-third of the patients' required PICU/Burn unit admissions, 1/3 were admitted to floor, and 1/3 were discharged home from the ED. Average duration of hospitalization was 5 days. Of those admitted, 30% received antibiotics and only 8% received systemic steroids. Patients were made NPO on the first day of admission in 33.3% of patients and allowed to resume normal diet after surgical consultation. Only 9/75 (12%) patients required intubation. Otolaryngology consultation was obtained in 10.7% of cases. Only 18% of all patients required surgical intervention with debridement being most common (>60%). In this group, 20% received esophagogastroduodenoscopies due to ingestion of alkali substance. Complications occurred in less than 6% of all cases. CONCLUSION: Ingestion of chemicals, including hair dye/relaxer products, as well as overheated liquids and foods, are leading causes of oropharyngeal burns treated at our Children's Hospital Emergency Department over the past decade.