Profile of Medico-Legal Deaths Due to Thermal Burn Injury in Tertiary Care Centre of Northern Madhya Pradesh

Introduction:Fire is one of the greatest discoveries in the history of mankind. It fully transforms the way of living of humans.But just like a double edged sword it also affects the human life in a negative way.Fire is easy and dangerous weapon in kitchen to be used for suicide for females in developing country like India.Due to this,thermal burn is a big problem and have significant share in medico-legal autopsies. Aim and objective: The aim of present study is to provide a brief analysis of thermal burn mortality across all age group brought in the mortuary of GRMC, Gwalior and to study the various medico-legal aspects of fatal thermal burn cases. Material &Method:This is a retrospective analysis of 82 cases of thermal burns which were brought for medico-legal autopsyatForensic Medicine & Toxicology departmentin Gajra Raja Medical College, Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh) during the whole year. The data was complied, tabulated and analysed statistically. Results:3.6% of total medico-legal autopsies are of thermal burn. Most of the thermal burn cases fall in the age group of 21-30years. 57.3% victims are female.81.1% of the victims are married. Most of the victims (64.6%) showed total body surface area involvement between 71-100%. Most of the cases (39%) survived for 7 days or more. Most common cause of death (74.4%) in this study is Septicaemia. About 69.5% of thermal burn cases were accidental manner. Conclusion: In most of the cases thermal burn is totally preventable and manageable. Education at school level plays a key role. Most of the accidental thermal burns can be avoided if, people know the proper safety measures for using fuels for cooking.