What is it about?
Children and Adolescents with myelomeningocele who live in hot climates and are ambulatory have a risk of developing buttocks burns when they sit down outside in the hot summer months because of their insensate buttocks. They are more likely to need surgery, hospitalization or extensive wound clinic care than others without insensate buttocks skin.
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Why is it important?
Children and adolescents with myelomeningocele who are ambulatory and their families who live in hot climates need to be counseled about the risk of buttocks burn and the importance of avoiding sitting on hot surfaces in the summer months of June, July, August and September. Given that many individuals with myelomeningocele have executive function challenges, teachers, coaches and others need to be educated about this issue as well.
Perspectives
Families of children with myelomeningocele are taught early on to avoid walking outside in bare feet because of the insensate skin and risk of injury. However, many do not appreciate that they also have insensate buttocks skin and the environmental surface temperatures in hot climates can cause significant burns.
Pamela Murphy
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Environmental buttocks burns in children and adolescents with spina bifida in the Southwestern United States, Journal of Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine, December 2019, IOS Press,
DOI: 10.3233/prm-190607.
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