Bacteremia in burned patients admitted to Sina Hospital, Tabriz, Iran

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.