The Monster In Burns: A Report

Most burns injuries are avoidable . The pathology of burns is not fully understood and patients occasionally pass the acute phase and when all hope is ripe, the patient disappoints’ and dies contrary to expectation.Nigeria has no fully equipped burns centre and the dearth of facilities and manpower could be contributory. Burns is the ideal disease that merits the aphorism “prevention is better than cure”. Patients that survive major burns only begin their woes with formidable reconstructive needs6. Two cases that consumed resources, time but eventually became fatal are hereby presented to highlight why burns still merits the aphorism “ Prevention is better than cure”. We report two cases of severe burns to highlight the formidable challenges of management and the almost constant unfavourable outcome in this environment , and the cost implications to such families of the victims. Parkland formula was used to calculate the initial fluid administered. The two cases were managed in our temporary burns unit. A lot of resources were put into them in terms of infusions ,antibiotics, and surgical procedures , but the outcome were unfavourable as the patients died. In burns, prevention is still much better than cure.Keywords: Burn