Cutaneous Chemical Burns: Water Irrigation First Aid Improves Short-term Outcomes

First aid recommendations for chemical burns include copious water irrigation for 30 minutes to 2 h after removal of the substance from skin. The aim of this retrospective analysis was to assess the efficacy of water irrigation on short-term outcomes for chemical burn injuries. Data from the Australian and New Zealand Burn registry (2009-2020) were analyzed to categorize the application of running water for first aid for presence, timing of application postinjury, and duration. The timing of first aid application was classified into whether the application was pre-hospital or in-hospital. Multivariate regression analyses then evaluated how water irrigation affected hospital stay, Intensive Care Unit admission, and the necessity for acute surgery for wound closure. Among 1549 chemical burn patients, for those who received in-hospital first aid their stay was reduced by about 18% compared to those who did not. Patients receiving pre-hospital or in-hospital first aid had 37% and 31% lower odds, respectively, of needing acute care surgery for wound closure compared to those who did not. There was no evidence that first aid provision influenced the need for intensive care admission. Water irrigation is associated with shorter hospital stays and reduced acute care surgery for wound closure following chemical burns without impacting intensive care admission rates.