Background: Burns are not uncommon in Egypt, for successful prevention of such accidents it is essential to analyze the medicolegal aspects of these cases. The present study was conducted in Assiut university hospitals. Burn cases that were admitted to the emergency units during years of 2015 and 2016 were retrospectively analyzed from the available records.
Purpose: to investigate medicolegal aspects and demography of burn cases presented in emergency units at Assiut University Hospitals during years 2015 and 2016 to identify vulnerable personnel, and to evaluate their outcomes.
Methods: A retrospectives study analyzing data from the records between 01/01/2015 to 31/12/2016. Data regarding age, gender, type of burn, percentage of body surface area involved in burn, hospital stay of victims, fate of cases, and survival period of deceased victims was collected and analyzed using SPSS. Results: The study revealed male predominance, 258 (75.26%) male victims out of total 380 victims. The mean age for victims was 15.57 years with most of the victims (52.89%) of burn were between the ages of 0 to 10 years, the minim age was 2 months while the maximum age was 73 years. Hot liquids and flame were the commonest causes of burn. 77.11% of burns in children age
less than 11 years were due to hot liquids. The highest percentage of cases of burn was found in winter (29.2%). 32.89% of victims were students. The mean of hospital stay was 8.29 days. 17.63 % of burn victims admitted during these two years died. Conclusions: Male victims represent most burn patients with children being more vulnerable.
Preventive measures against burns should be taken in order to prevent burns particularly in children.