Burn and vital risk criteria in industrial accidents (as forensic medicine approach)

BACKGROUND
Burn traumas resulting from industrial accidents may generate a death risk. In such cases a forensic report should be filled up. In forensic findings, the death risk which is associated with the degree of trauma, of the victim is as important as the treatment of the subject. The aim of our research was to investigate what degree of burns causes fatality and which type of industrial accidents cause them.
METHODS
This research was done between the dates October 2004 and December 2006 with the descriptive epidemiology method by the evaluation of all data entered emergency surgical room- burn unit. The results of the study were analyzed with respect to its socio-demographic characteristics clinical findings of the type of burn and the type of the event which caused the burn. Categorical variables were assessed using Chi-square test, continuous variables were tested by Pearson’s correlation.
RESULTS
For the total 128 incidents, 69.5% (n=89) were males and 30.5% (n=39) females. 28.9% (n=37) of the incidents were industrial accidents. 48.6% (n=18) of the burns were caused by boiling water, 32.4% (n=12) due to contact by flame, 10.8% (n=4) electrocution and %8.2 (n=3) due to burns by contact with chemicals. The 19.50% (n=25) of the incidents had ended up by loss of life, 80.5% (n=103) were cured and discharged. The incidents which had resulted under 20%, the mortality rate was 1.3% (n=1), the incidents which had above 20%, the mortality rate was 49.0% (n=24) (p=0.0001).
CONCLUSION
The degree of burn was found to be valuable in determining the death risk but the extent of the burned area was found to be more deterministic in assessing this particular risk.

Ýþ kazalarýnda yanýk ve hayati tehlike ölçütleri (Adli týp yaklaþýmý)

AMAÇ
Ýþ kazasý sonucu oluþan yanýk travmalarýnda, ölüm meydana getirme riski olmasýndan dolayý adli rapor düzenlenmesi þarttýr. Adli olgularda travmanýn aðýrlýðýný belirten en önemli ölçüt olan, hayati tehlikenin saptanmasý maðdurun tedavisi kadar önemlidir. Bu çalýþma, bildirilen yanýk yüzde deðerlerinin, hayati tehlike kavramýný ne ölçüde karþýladýðýný araþtýrmak ve iþ kazalarýnda meydana gelen yanýk nedenlerini belirlemek amacýyla yapýldý.
GEREÇ VE YÖNTEM
Çalýþma Ekim 2004 ile Aralýk 2006 tarihleri arasýnda, tanýmlayýcý epidemiyolojik yöntemle, acil cerrahi servisi yanýk ünitesine gelen tüm olgular deðerlendirilerek gerçekleþtirildi. Olgularýn sosyo-demografik özelikleri sorgulandý. Veriler, frekans, aritmetik ortalama, standart sapma ve median kullanýlarak tanýmlandý. Kesikli deðiþkenler Ki-kare testi kullanýlarak, sürekli deðiþkenler Pearson korelasyon testi yardýmýyla incelendi.
BULGULAR
Toplam 128 olgunun %69,5’i erkek (n=89), %30,5’i (n=39) kadýn idi. Yanýk olgularýnýn %28,9’u (n=37) iþ kazasýydý. Ýþ kazasý nedenli yanýklarýn, %48,6’sý (n=18) sýcak su, %32,4’ü (n=12) alev, %10,8’i (n=4) elektrik ve %8,2’si (n=3) kimyasal yanýk idi. Olgularýn %19,50’inin (n=25) hayatýný kaybettiði, %80,50’sinin (n=103) iyileþerek taburcu edildiði saptandý. Yanýk yüzdesi %20’nin altýnda olan olgularda %1,3 (n=1) oranýnda, %20 ve üzerinde hesaplanan olgularda %49,0 (n=24) oranýnda ölüm görüldü (p=0,0001).
SONUÇ
Yanýðýn derecesi ölüm riski belirlenmesinde deðerli olmakla beraber yanýk alanýnýn geniþliði, ölüm riskinin belirlenmesi ve olayýn soruþturulmasýnda daha dikkatli davranýlmasý açýsýndan daha belirleyici bulunmuþtur.