Profile of Head and Neck Burns During COVID-19 Pandemic

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has affected daily activities since December 2019. Burn injuries to head and neck can result in cosmetic and functional deformities. The purpose of this study was to characterize patients with burns to head and neck during the pandemic. This cross-sectional study reviewed patients in Burn Care Quality Platform Registry. Patients were included if they were aged 18 years or older and sustained burns to head and neck. Patients were stratified according to the date of injury into 1) March 13 to September 13, 2019 (ie, before COVID-19 pandemic, BC19) or 2) March 13 to September 13, 2020. March 13, 2020 was chosen because 1) COVID-19 was announced as a national emergency on that date and 2) it was the last day of in-person schools in the state of Georgia. Data collection included patient demographics, admission details, burn details, and hospital-related variables. During the study period, 157 patients had burns to head and neck (BC19, 70; C19, 71). Our data showed a 375% increase in March following the announcement of the pandemic (BC19, 4; C19,19). Admissions from another facility were statistically more than in the C19 group (P <= .0001). For the C19 group, there were 53% more admissions from the emergency department than the BC19 group (P = .001). Additionally, in the BC19 group, patients presented with concomitant inhalation injuries significantly more than the C19 group (P = .04). In conclusion, the total number of burns is the same during BC19 and C19; however, there was a significant spike in the number of cases in March 2020.