• Laura Shepherd, Mandeep Kang, Charlotte Magness, Saiidy Hasham, Ciaran P O'Boyle, Mary Kennedy, Anthony Fletcher, and Skaria Alexander.
• Plastic Surgery Department, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, Hucknall Road, Nottingham, NG5 1PB, United Kingdom. Electronic address: Laura.Shepherd@nuh.nhs.uk.
• Burns. 2023 Aug 1; 49 (5): 119612001196-1200.

AbstractWithin healthcare generally, patients who self-harm can experience stigma and inequitable medical care. Previous studies have suggested that patients with small self-harm burn injuries may not be treated equally in comparison to non-intentional injuries. Furthermore, there is an absence of literature related to surgical outcomes for self-harm burn injuries. A retrospective cohort study of an adult burns service's outpatient attendances over a four-year period was completed. Self-harm burn injuries were identified and hospital medical records were used to extract demographic, burn injury, treatment and outcome information. 94 self-harm burn injuries in 58 patients presented over the study period. Of those who presented with self-harm burn injuries, 29 % (n = 17) of patients presented on more than one occasion, 54 % (n = 50) of wounds were managed surgically and 80 % (n = 36) of full thickness injuries were managed surgically. The post-operative course and healing time was similar to what would be expected after non-intentional burn injuries. In 93 % (n = 54) of all patients presenting with self-harm burn injuries, there was no reported tampering or non-compliance. There was no tampering or non-compliance in 94 % (n = 47) of those with self-harm burn injuries when wounds were treated surgically. The findings support the view that self-harm burn injuries should be treated in the same way as non-intentional burn injuries and that similar outcomes from treatment can be expected. However, further research is needed to explore this systematically.Crown Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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