Tohoku J. Exp. Med., 2005, 205(3)

Unfavorable Outcome of Burn Patients with Neuropsychiatric Disorders

YOUICHI YANAGAWA, DAIZOH SAITOH, TOSHIHISA SAKAMOTO and YOSHIAKI OKADA

Department of Traumatology and Critical Care Medicine, National Defense Medical College, Tokorozawa, Japan

To assess the outcome of burn patients with neuropsychiatric disorders, we performed a 7-year retrospective review of burn patients admitted to the National Defense Medical College. Seventy-seven skin burn patients over 10 years of age were included in this study and divided into two groups, neuropsychiatry and control groups. The neuropsychiatry group consisted of self-inflicted burn patients (n = 21) and burn patients with a neurological disorder (n = 18), who could not move away from burning source due to neurological problems. The control subjects (n = 38) had been healthy before burn. No significant differences in the age, gender or causes of burn were observed between the two groups. Notably, total burned surface area, area of full-thickness burn, and mortality are greater in the neuropsychiatry group than those in the control. However, after matching the patients for the severity of burn injuries, the above parameters show no significant differences between the two groups. Therefore, the outcome of the burned patients depends on the patients' will and ability to move away from the burning source. Whenever we treat severe burn patients, we should assess their neuropsychiatric conditions.

keywords —— burn; suicide; neurological illness; outcome

© 2005 Tohoku University Medical Press

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Address for reprints: Youichi Yanagawa, Ph.D., M.D., Department of Traumatology and Critical Care Medicine, National Defense Medical College, 3-2, Tokorozawa 359-8513, Japan.

e-mail: yanagawa@me.ndmc.ac.jp