NCJ Number
200936
Date Published
2003
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This chapter discusses the recognition of and referral criteria for abusive burn injuries to children.
Abstract
The chapter first advises that in order to understand abusive burns in children, a basic knowledge of burn injury is required. This includes an understanding of the classification of burns in accordance with the percentage of the body surface area burned, the depth of the burn, and the agent that causes the burn. After discussing each of these characteristics of burns, the chapter advises that approximately 5 percent to 10 percent of pediatric patients admitted to a burn center have abusive burns. In determining the level of suspicion for an inflicted burn injury, it is most important that the history be consistent with the pattern of burn injury. A section of the chapter is devoted to the recognition of scald burns. A discussion of patient history notes that the two most important aspects of an evaluation of a child's burn for the possibility of abuse are whether the pattern of the burn is consistent with the history of the burn and whether the burn is consistent with the child's level of development. A section of the chapter on perpetrators of abusive burns indicates that mothers and mother's boyfriends are the most common perpetrators. The chapter concludes by listing the following criteria established by the American Burn Association for referral to a burn center: partial thickness burns greater than 10 percent of total body surface area; burns that involve the face, hands, feet, genitalia, perineum, or major joints; third-degree burns in an age group; electrical burns; chemical burns; and inhalation injury. A case vignette with follow-up questions is provided. 5 figures, 4 resources, and 8 references