| Abstract
Introduction: One of the most important causes of mortality and morbidity in burn wards is
infection, and it is the major reason of death in burn injuries. There are several reasons that
make burn victims predisposed to infection. The current study aimed to investigate the role of
different factors that have an effect on bacteremia occurrence in burn patients and factors
which are relevant to mortality in these patients.
Methods: This descriptive-analytic study conducted in a 1 year period in Sina Hospital, Tabriz
University of Medical Sciences, Iran, and 81 burn were included. We collected patients’ data
about their age, body weight, cause of burn, lesion color, place and percentage of burn by
getting history and studying of their files. Then we documented all interventions. Blood tests
and cultures and colonies criteria were recorded.
Results: In this study, 39 patients were male (48.1%), and 42 was female (51.9%). Mean age
was 32.06 ± 17.46 years. In patients without bacteremia, 57 patients did not need
catheterization (89.1%), however in patients with bacteremia 9 patients demanded catheter
insertion (52.9%). In patients with bacteremia 12 patients survived (70.9%), however in the
without bacteremia group 56 patients survived (92.2%). Then, the relationship between type of
burn, wound infection and bacterial species investigated, (P = 0.650, P = 0.210 and P = 0.110
respectively).
Conclusion: We concluded, invasive interventions increased bacteremia susceptibility in our
studied burned patients. Mortality rate is directly related to bacteremia prevalence and increased
by extent of burn area in these patients. The three most frequent microbial agents responsible for
bacteremia were Pseudomona aeruginosa, Klebsiella and Staphylococcus aureus. |