252 Beyond Scarring: Long-term Physical Outcomes Following Burns

The breadth of physical outcomes following burn injury is underexplored in the literature. The Burn Model Systems (BMS) created a review of systems questionnaire to identify persistent physical sequelae. The objective of this study was to determine the frequency of these 22 patient-reported physical outcomes up to 2 years following burn injury. Data from the BMS National Database (2015–2017) were analyzed. All individuals were 18 years of age or older at the time of data collection. A series of “yes/no” Review of Systems questions developed by the BMS were administered to burn survivors at 6 and 24 months after injury. Demographic and clinical characteristics of the population were determined and the Review of Systems questions were examined. There were 172 subjects included in the 6 month population and 128 included in the 24 month population. The 6 month respondents were 69.8% male, had a mean (SD) age of 46.8 (15.9) years, and a mean (SD) burn size of 17.9 (18.9) percent total body surface area. At all time points, the most prevalent physical outcome was numbness, pins and needles or burning sensations in the burn scar (6 mo: 69%; 24 mo: 46%). At both the 6 and 24 month follow-up timepoints, more than a quarter of the population indicated they experienced neuropathic symptoms in the extremities, joint pain, difficulty in hot environments, cold intolerance, trouble with balance, and difficulty with memory (Table). Physical outcomes such as neuropathic symptoms, temperature intolerance, balance and memory impairments are commonly reported up to two years following burn injury. Further investigation is needed to better understand and address these symptoms. Given the high prevalence of these physical outcomes, burn clinicians should monitor these symptoms at long-term follow-up. The 14 most prevalent outcomes at 24 months post-burn The 14 most prevalent outcomes at 24 months post-burn