Social media challenges associated paediatric burns.

Abstract

The emerging social media trend of "challenges" encourages users to participate in and share videos of potentially dangerous activities. Social media challenge-related paediatric burn injuries are poorly documented in medical literature. This study aims to explore the incidence of challenge-related paediatric burns within our service. A retrospective case note review of the incidence of paediatric burn cases in our service, in which "social media challenges" were identified as a mechanism of injury, from January 2020 to August 2025. Data collected from electronic patient records included patient demographics, details of burn injuries, and subsequent management. Thirteen patients were identified who sustained burns as a result of attempting an internet challenge. The mean age was 12.4 years (range: 9-15 years), with a female-to-male ratio of over 2:1. Four of the thirteen children were neurodivergent. The burn injuries included superficial (4/13), superficial partial-thickness (4/13), deep partial-thickness (3/13), and full-thickness burns (2/13). Scalds (8/13) were the most common mechanism of injury, followed by cold burns (3/13) and contact burns (2/13). All burn incidents were associated with TikTok™, rather than other social media platforms. Management involved 2/13 patients requiring full-thickness skin grafts. Social media platforms can expose children to dangerous content, further compounded by peer pressure and the desire to produce viral videos. The cohort is likely under-represented as an aetiology in paediatric burns. Early recognition of social media trends may enable preventative measures and education, utilising the same social media platforms, by the wider burns community.