gms | German Medical Science

Introduction: Scald burn in the pediatric population represents one of the frequent causes of emergency care and the main cause of burns in children less than 5 years (80%) in our country. The use of Epifast^® as a biological dressing for treatment of mixed second-degree burns, has shown great short-term benefits, being a good form of treatment for this type of patients.

Objectives: To demonstrate quality of scarring in the pediatric patients with mixed second-degree burns scald treated with Epifast^®.

Material and methods: Records of patient’s ≤5 years old were included, at least 6 months prior to the present study, analyzing sex, cause, depth, and percentage affected, and treated with Epifast®. The Vancouver scar scale was applied, recording data

Results: From April 2014 to March 2019, the 245 files of patient’s ≤5 years with scalding burn and mixed second-degree affection treated with Epifast® were collected. 59% male (144), 41% female (101), mean age 2.4 years (range 1 months to 5 years), mean percentage 15% (range 10% to 45%), all had mixed 2nd degree burn by scald and treated with Epifast^®. The results were evaluated in 193 patients (39 cases lacked follow-up and 13 cases presented deepening), recording results in a format that included the Vancouver scar scale application averaging 2.9 at 6 months and 2.1 at 1 year.

Conclusions: 79% of the cases were evaluated, showing that patients under 5 years of age with scald burn and 2nd degree mixed condition can be managed with live keratinocytes cultured in vitro (Epifast®) obtaining favorable results to long-term scarring, as a good alternative to avoid hypertrophic scar.