Self-inflicted burns

During the last few years, a unique group of patients was recognized among the burn patients treated in our institution. They were all young men with small, isolated, lower-extremity burns that, in appearance, were not compatible with the claimed etiology. In an attempt to characterize these patients, we retrospectively screened the charts of all isolated lower extremity burn patients in our Plastic Surgery Department during a 2-year period, comparing the suspicious burns to our other patients. We found that there were 25 patients out of 56 that were suspected of having self-inflicted burns. All the patients in this group were male soldiers, with a mean age of 19.5 years. The length of hospitalization per percentage of burn was longer in these patients than in the other patients. We feel that this group of patients is a recognizable subunit that should be treated both by physicians and psychologists.