Characterization of Publications on Burns in Brazil and Changes Resulting from Trauma in Brazil: Systematic Review of the Literature

Objective: Characterize the profile of scientific publications on burns in Brazil and systemic changes resulting from the trauma. Methods and results: This is a bibliographical, retrospective and descriptive research with a quantitative approach. It was held between April and May, 2016 in the databases Latin American and Caribbean Center on Health Sciences (LILACS); Nursing Database (BDENF); Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online (MEDLINE), Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO) and the Journal Portal of Higher Education Personnel Improvement Coordination (CAPES). After the analysis of the inclusion criteria (articles available in full, in Portuguese, published between 2011 and 2015), there were 49 productions, and 16 were selected. Analyzing the sample for the event characteristics, it was observed a higher incidence of accidents in males. The main causes of burns were heated by liquid, followed by direct flame. Regarding the classification, the most frequent injury was the 2nd degree, but also there were burns reports with mixed classification. Also, the upper limbs and trunk were the body parts most affected. In addition to these data, it was also highlighted the most frequent types of systemic changes caused by burns, which were respiratory complications, infection and/or sepsis and metabolic sequels.  Conclusion: The study showed the need to characterize of the publications in burns, since the crossing of this information provides a better understanding of the main causal factors, distribution and identification of risk groups. It also enables the planning of prevention strategies to help to reduce accidents, favoring the reduction of injuries and the number of hospitalizations. Moreover, it is extremely important that health professionals know about the epidemiological profile, to provide support in the evaluation and organization of care, and to prevention campaigns, aiming to decrease burn rates. Keywords: Profile; Burns; Burn Units.