Articles Posted in Third Degree Burns in Pregnancy

The incidance of burns during pregnancy are more common in developing countries then developed countries. Treatment of burns during pregnency may not be easy as during treatment both the wellbeing of the mother and the baby has to be taken into consideration. Topical and systemic treatment of burns in pregnant women may cause serious effects on the health of the fetus including fetal malformations.

Treatment of burns in pregnant women may include:

• Monitoring of the mother and the fetus by frequent ultrasounds, fetal heart monitoring, measuring blood clotting factors on a daily bases and other tests as needed.

Anyone is susceptable for burn injuries including pregnant women. The incidence of burns during pregnancy is higher in developing countries compared to developed countries. Most of the burns happening in pregnant women are accidental and are caused by different causes. The most common causes are scalding followed by flame injury. Other causes my include chemical, flash, electrical and friction burns.

The management of burns in pregnant women is not easy, it requires a multidisciplinary approch with close monitoring of fetal and maternal well being. For the mother the aim of the treatment is to restore full range of function and to minimize damages as much as possible. For the fetus the aim of treatment is reach full term being healthy without any congenital abnormalities. Treatment is more difficult in the first trimester of pregnancy because of thr risk of abortion. When the mother is at or near term, delivery should be done as soon as possible.

Minor burns may have no effect on the course of pregnancy but burns of at least 35% of total body surface area can induce early delivery and/or fetal loss. When a burn injury happen in a pregnant lady and depending on the severity of the burn there will be multiple body reactions among which are the following: