Burn and Wound Care for Kids

At our Burn and Wound Care Clinic, we treat all types of burn injuries in children of all ages. Our specialists have training in treating the most common burns, which are small burns that cover less than 10 percent of the body. We care for contact burns and burns from scalding, chemicals and fires. We also have experience in wound care, scar management and burn reconstruction to address scarring.

We most often see kids with contact burns, such as from touching an oven or open flame, or burns from scalding, especially from hot water taps. Our burn and wound care team has experience treating these types of burns, whether they are first-, second- or third-degree burns.

Specializing in Burn Reconstruction

More serious burn injuries may need surgical reconstruction. This is a type of plastic surgery we use to improve the function of the burned area, and also to improve how the burned area appears. Our pediatric plastic surgeons have expertise in this type of surgery. Some of the treatments they use include:

• Skin grafting – replacing injured tissue with healthy skin taken from another area of the body
• Laser treatment – to improve function due to scarring
• Tissue expanders – these stretch the skin and tissue to prepare the area for reconstruction
• Z-plasty – a type of plastic surgery to improve the appearance of scars
• Burn excision – removing tissue that would delay healing of the wound

What to Expect

When you bring your child to our Burn and Wound Care Clinic, you’ll first meet with an advanced practice nurse (APN) who has extensive training in the management of burns and wounds. Depending on how severe your child’s burn is, the care team could also include others from different areas based on your child’s individual needs.

Once we have treated your child’s burn or wound, we’ll go over in detail the care your child will need. You’ll find out what to expect related to blistering, itching and pain. We’ll also cover how to care for the wound at home, how to change the dressing and the appropriate level of activity for your child.

We schedule follow-up visits in a timely manner to make sure your child’s burn or wound is healing well.

Experiencing a burn can be traumatic for a child. We’ll talk to your child in an age-appropriate way and we have special training in working with kids to calm and reassure them. It’s important to us that your child have as good an experience as possible while they are in our care.

Our specialty training in pediatrics means we provide the care your child needs in a compassionate way that is just right for kids. We offer comprehensive care for the whole child. That means if your child has other health conditions along with a burn, we’ll take that into account when creating a treatment plan.

Your child will receive multidisciplinary care based on your child’s needs. Team members you might meet with include nurses, pediatric plastic surgeons, social workers, trauma surgeons, Child Life specialists, and therapists from Physical Therapy and/or Occupational Therapy.

Scheduling

The Burn and Wound Care Clinic is open Monday-Friday. For urgent care outside those hours, go to the Emergency Department (ED). The ED will consult with the plastic surgeon on call as needed.

Where: Cincinnati Children's Burnet Campus, Location C.2

For more information or to request an appointment, contact us.