Lviv doctors saved a 10-month-old patient with burns on his legs without surgery.

Burn specialists at the St. Nicholas Children's Hospital in Lviv successfully prevented life-threatening complications and saved a 10-month-old boy with burns on his legs. The medical team managed to assist the young patient without any surgeries. They applied special medications to the affected areas of his legs, which effectively dissolved the necrotized, or dead, tissues caused by the burns.

The father of 10-month-old Bohdan Domashovets from Lviv region has worked as a firefighter for many years. While water helps him combat danger at work, it became a threat to his little son's life at home. One evening, the boy's father boiled water to prepare porridge for his child. Suddenly, his son pulled on the kettle's cord, and hot water spilled right onto his legs. The father called for an ambulance and began administering first aid to his son, the hospital reported.

“At work, we underwent training, so I know that the burned area should be placed under cool running water. That’s exactly what I did. I also know that various creams and ointments should be avoided. However, in an attempt to ease my son's pain, I used one of the medications,” the boy's father told the doctors.

The ambulance arrived in less than an hour, covering a distance of 70 km to take the child to St. Nicholas Hospital. Initially, burn specialists performed surgical treatment on the boy's wounds. They opened the blisters formed due to the burn and applied a special dressing that absorbed all the secretions from the affected areas. Without this, the already deepened burn (as this medication creates a so-called film over the wound, preventing secretions from escaping) could have worsened further, leading to additional complications.

“Often, burn specialists surgically excise dead tissue caused by burns. However, to avoid traumatizing the child, we decided to treat the boy solely with medications, without surgery. The child's condition allowed us to do this,” says burn and plastic surgeon Halyna Sayan.

During the treatment, the specialists performed four dressings on the boy, during which they applied special medications to the burned areas of his legs. These medications helped effectively dissolve the necrotized, or dead, tissues.

The boy has already been discharged from the hospital and is feeling well. To prevent scarring at the burn sites, his parents will continue to care for the affected areas for some time.