Clinical Outcomes and Factors Associated With Length of Stay Among Burn Patients With Pre-Existing Neurological Disorders: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND

Burn injuries can lead to significant systemic complications. Patients with pre-existing neurological disorders may present additional clinical complexity during burn management; however, outcomes and associated factors in this subgroup are not well described.

OBJECTIVE

To describe clinical outcomes and identify factors associated with length of hospital stay among burn patients with pre-existing neurological disorders admitted to a tertiary care center.

METHODS

This retrospective cohort study included 67 burn patients with documented pre-existing neurological disorders identified from hospital records (2022-2024). Data collected included demographics, burn characteristics (total body surface area [TBSA], depth), number of surgical interventions, ICU admission, ventilator use, length of hospital stay, and discharge outcome. Analyses included descriptive statistics, sex-based group comparisons, correlation analysis, and negative binomial regression to assess factors associated with hospital stay (SPSS v26; p < 0.05).

RESULTS

The mean age was 51.5 ± 21.7 years, and 52.2% of patients were female. Mean TBSA was 15.5% ± 20.5%. Mean length of stay was 3.5 ± 5.2 days (median 1 day). Most patients were discharged with partial recovery (74.6%); mortality was 4.5% (95% CI: 0.9%-12.5%). No significant sex differences were observed in key clinical variables. Length of stay was strongly correlated with the number of surgical interventions (r = 0.796, p < 0.001). In multivariable negative binomial regression, the number of operations was significantly associated with hospital length of stay. Because this variable accumulates during hospitalization, the observed association should be interpreted as descriptive rather than causal.

CONCLUSION

Among burn patients with pre-existing neurological disorders, a greater surgical burden was strongly associated with prolonged hospitalization. These findings support early identification of neurological comorbidity and coordinated multidisciplinary care to manage resource use and optimize outcomes in this high-risk subgroup. Due to the absence of a comparator group and the retrospective design, causal inferences cannot be drawn.