On November 28, Children’s Hospital 1 (HCMC) informed the press about a severe burn case due to a fire. The victim is a 5-year-old boy, who was transferred from An Khe, Gia Lai a month prior.
The boy is recovering well after treatment (Photo: Dieu Linh).
The Journey to Save a Critically Burned Boy After the Fire
Sharing at the press briefing, Dr. Diep Que Trinh, Head of the Burn Department, Children’s Hospital 1 (HCMC), stated that at 4:45 AM on October 19, the hospital admitted a 5-year-old boy in a state of shock and respiratory failure due to flame burns and airway burns.
Previously, the child was rescued from a house fire in An Khe ward, Gia Lai, along with his parents. The mother passed away immediately in the accident, while the father was transferred to Cho Ray Hospital for emergency treatment but also succumbed to his injuries.
At Children’s Hospital 1, doctors in the Emergency Department received the boy with burns covering his head, face, back, abdomen, and both arms and legs. Notably, the motor organs were very deeply burned. The total burn area was approximately 65%.
In addition to skin burns, the boy was in shock due to fluid loss from the burn wounds, accompanied by respiratory failure from inhaling coal dust. In the Emergency Department, the on-call team quickly initiated aggressive anti-shock treatment, fluid resuscitation, blood transfusion, plasma transfusion, and respiratory support with mechanical ventilation before transferring the patient to the Burn Department for continued treatment.
“Facing both airway burns and severe burn shock, the child simultaneously confronted two critical conditions. Without timely intervention, the risk of death was very high. For cases of airway burns, the mortality prognosis is often over 80%,” Dr. Trinh informed.
In the Burn Department, the boy underwent bronchoalveolar lavage, antibiotic treatment to prevent infection, and daily dressing changes.
After 4 days of intensive treatment, the boy was weaned off the ventilator, his hemodynamics stabilized, and he then underwent two surgical debridement and skin grafting procedures. After 38 days, the burn wounds were almost completely healed, and the skin closed well.
The patient can now move, his face flushed with healing scars (Photo: Dieu Linh).
According to Dr. Trinh, the fortunate aspect of this case is the child’s rapid recovery, with the total treatment time being only half compared to similar cases.
The next plan involves the boy practicing movement to prevent contractures, and the family will need guidance on how to support him upon discharge. He is expected to be discharged next week if he remains completely stable.
The Future of Treatment Remains Very Challenging
The doctor further shared that during the treatment process, the biggest difficulty was the burns on the head and face, combined with the presence of the ventilator tube. Care had to ensure the tube remained properly placed while also treating the burns, posing a very high risk of tube displacement, infection, and necrosis.
“Currently, the boy’s body burns are gradually healing. Previously, his face was almost entirely burned and severely swollen, and his neck was also swollen, significantly obstructing breathing,” Dr. Trinh shared.
Additionally, during the critical phase, the child received psychological support. Currently, his spirits are gradually improving. The child is cheerful and cooperative with rehabilitation exercises. However, when he returns home, family members will need to provide ongoing psychological support.
Regarding sequelae, despite skin grafting, the patient will undoubtedly face the risk of scarring, especially on the face. Scars typically take about 1 year to stabilize. During this time, the child will require multiple follow-up visits for doctors to monitor and manage the scar condition.
In the coming time, the child will need various interventions such as massage, splinting, compression bandages, laser therapy, etc., to prevent hypertrophic scars and contractures around the eyes, nose, and mouth. Heavily burned motor areas like the hands and feet are also prone to contractures.
“In the future, the child will need to undergo many reconstructive surgeries. For complex areas like the face, eyes, eyelids, etc., reconstruction will have to be performed multiple times.
Facial contouring in these areas is very difficult; however, the boy has the advantage of not having extensive neck burns. This will make future orthopedic surgeries less complex,” the doctor noted.
The Fateful Fire
Sitting next to her severely burned grandson, looking into his innocent eyes, Mrs. L.T.H. (56) occasionally wiped away tears.
“His parents divorced and had three children together. On the evening before the incident, the whole family went out for hotpot, then his father took the two older children to their paternal grandparents’ house and brought the youngest one to his mother’s house. Later that night, I didn’t see my son come home, so I assumed the boy’s father stayed overnight at his ex-wife’s house,” Mrs. H. recounted.
Recalling that horrifying night, she couldn’t forget the frantic cries of a neighbor reporting that her former daughter-in-law’s house was on fire. Hearing the bad news, she was startled, got up, and ran over, seeing the house engulfed in flames.
After the fire, the boy’s mother died, and the father and son were taken to a local hospital before being transferred to Cho Ray Hospital (HCMC). From there, the child was moved to Children’s Hospital 1.
“Currently, the family’s circumstances are truly very difficult. His mother is gone, his father is also gone, leaving only three orphaned children. The paternal side is poor, and the maternal side is also poor, so I don’t know how I will manage to raise these grandchildren sufficiently,” she shared.
Thinking about the future, she couldn’t help but worry. Although the boy’s wounds have stabilized, the future remains very challenging and costly, and she herself doesn’t know how she will cope.
Besides financial worries, what the grandmother worried about most was her grandson’s psychological well-being.
“When he grows up and goes to school, he might feel self-conscious because of the remaining scars. With no father and no mother, my heart aches; I only wish for money to help him get scar treatment, so his face can be less disfigured and he feels less self-conscious.
Many times, thinking about the possibility of him being teased by friends, I feel great pain,” she confessed.
