Psychological and Physiological Complications of Post-Burn Patients in Pakistan: A narrative review

Abstract

Pakistan has a burn mortality rate of 6.5%, with a considerable percentage of survivors suffering from long-term complications due to lack of rehabilitation. The aim of this review is to outline the important physiological and psychological after-effects of burn injuries. Relevant articles were included by conducting a comprehensive search between 20th March and 25th May 2020.  Psychological complications of burns include depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, sleep disturbance, phobias, guilt, suicidal thoughts, and personality changes. Physiological complications include scarring, contractures, pain, muscle wasting, and hypothermia. Other complications include infections. The review revealed a scarcity of literature regarding the prevalence and impact of long-term complications in post-burn patients. Our findings include a lack of rehabilitative services and high rate of post-burn complications in Pakistan. Rehabilitation of burn patients should be a continuation of active treatment and should begin from the day of admission, to reduce the morbidity and improve the quality of life of burn patients.

Keywords: Burns; physiology; psychology; rehabilitation; quality of life.