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Recent evidence suggests that burns in adults heal better when treated with cool running water (Burns 2019; 45:433; PLoS One 2016; 11:e0147259). To assess the effect of this treatment for pediatric burns, researchers queried an Australian burn center database that included structured interviews with patients and parents about first aid provided within 3 hours of injury, prior to burn center assessment. Running water therapy was classified as ≥20 minutes or <20 minutes (which included none). Patients with friction, electrical, and chemical burns as well as those with missing data were excluded.
The analysis included 2495 children aged 0 to 16 years (median age, 2 years), of whom 90% suffered burns of <5% body surface area. Overall, 71% of pat…