Burns Septicemia- The Leading Cause of Burn Mortality Dasari Harish Dr.1,*, Kumar Ashwini Dr.2, Sharma BR Dr.3 1Professor; Deptt. of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, Govt. Medical College & Hospital, Chandigarh 2Demonstrator; Deptt. of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, Govt. Medical College & Hospital, Chandigarh 3Professor & Head. Deptt. of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, Govt. Medical College & Hospital, Chandigarh *Corresponding Author: Dr Dasari Harish. dasariharish@gmail.com.
Abstract Burn injuries are one of the leading causes of death in all medico-legal cases in India and are the most common manifestation of dowry death. Infection of the burn injury leading to septicemia is the main cause of death, after the initial period of shock. A prospective study was conducted on cases of burns coming to the mortuary of Government Medical College and Hospital, Chandigarh, for medico-legal autopsy over a period of two and half years from 1st January 2006 to 31st May 2008. During this period, a total of 1275 cases were autopsied, of which 253 (19.8%) cases were of burns. The overall male to female ratio of the cases of burns was 1:2.2. The most common age group was 31–40 years for males and 21–25 years for females. Fifty four percent victims were from rural background, however the number of married females were the same in both rural and urban backgrounds, 74 (29%) each. Maximum number of incidents in females occurred in April, 12 (15%). Forty eight victims (19%) suffered burns to 41- 50% total body surface area (TBSA) and 45 (18%) to >80% TBSA. Two hundred and one victims survived for more than 3 days and Septicemia was the most common cause of death, accounting for 213 (84%) victims. Pseudomonas aeuroginosa (31%) and Klebsiella (24%) were the most common micro-organisms isolated from the splenic smear in our study, followed by Coagulase positive Staph aureus. (11%) and Proteus (7%). Top Keywords Burns, Burn septicemia, Burn mortality. Top |