Patient name:Livliness

Mechanism of burn:Flame Burn, Clothing Caught on Fire

Age:4 years

Total body surface area involved:8%

At the young age of just four, Livliness was often cared for by his older siblings as his mother cared for their dwelling.  Easily influenced, he partook in playing games around the cooking and heating fires with his brothers.  When his clothes catch fire, he suffered second and third degree burns to his face, arm and chest.  As he lived several hours away by foot from the closest clinic and funds were lacking for a minibus, his parents couldn’t raise funds for transport to Nkhoma Hospital for 9 days.  He presented to the hospital dehydrated and in severe pain due to the open exposed wounds.  After attempts to conservatively heal Livliness fail, our team eventually grafted his left arm and chest.  Livliness was also an epileptic patient with a history of his initial seizures presenting during a bout of malaria as an infant.

2006

Initial Presentation

Post-Op: Day 5

Pre-grafting

Skin Graft Application