Ann Rehabil Med.  2012 Oct;36(5):688-695.

The Factors Associated with Contact Burns from Therapeutic Modalities

• Mun JH
• Jeon JH
• Jung YJ
• Jang KU
• Yang HT
• Lim HJ
• Cho YS
• Kim D
• Hur J
• Kim JH
• Chun W
• Seo CH

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
To understand the injury pattern of contact burns from therapeutic physical modalities. METHOD: A retrospective study was done in 864 patients with contact burns who discharged from our hospital from January 2005 to December 2008. The following parameters were compared between patients with contact burns from therapeutic modalities and from other causes: general characteristics, burn extent, cause of burn injury, place of occurrence, burn injury site, treatment methods, prevalence of underlying disease, and length of hospital stay were compared between patients with contact burns.
RESULTS
Of the 864 subjects, 94 patients were injured from therapeutic modalities. A hot pack (n=51) was the most common type of therapeutic modality causing contact burn followed by moxibustion (n=21), electric heating pad (n=16), and radiant heat (n=4). The lower leg (n=31) was the most common injury site followed by the foot & ankle (n=24), buttock & coccyx (n=9), knee (n=8), trunk (n=8), back (n=6), shoulder (n=4), and arm (n=4). Diabetes mellitus was associated with contact burns from therapeutic modalities; the odds ratio was 3.99. Injuries took place most commonly at home (n=56), followed by the hospital (n=33), and in other places (n=5).
CONCLUSION
A hot pack was the most common cause of contact burns from therapeutic modalities, and the lower leg was the most common injury site. Injuries took place most commonly at home. The patients with contact burns from therapeutic modalities showed high correlation to presence of diabetes mellitus. These results would be helpful for the prevention of contact burns due to therapeutic modalities.

Keyword

Burns; Physical therapy modalities; Diabetes mellitus

MeSH Terms

Animals
Ankle
Arm
Burns
Buttocks
Coccyx
Diabetes Mellitus
Foot
Heating
Hot Temperature
Humans
Hypogonadism
Knee
Leg
Length of Stay
Mitochondrial Diseases
Moxibustion
Odds Ratio
Ophthalmoplegia
Physical Therapy Modalities
Prevalence
Retrospective Studies
Shoulder
Hypogonadism
Mitochondrial Diseases
Ophthalmoplegia

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Outcome variables for diabetic and nondiabetic patients with contact burns from therapeutic physical modalities. (A) Number of surgery. (B) Hospital length of stay. *p=0.003 for diabetic versus nondiabetic patients.

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  Fig. 2 Diabetes related factors for diabetic patients with contact burns from therapeutic physical modalities and contact burns from other causes. (A) Diabetes duration. (B) HbA1C. *p<0.05.

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