Electrical injury: a long-term analysis with review of regional differences

Abstract

Due to its relatively small share among burn injuries, published data on electrical injuries remain scarce, and differ in patient collectives due to infrastructural differences. We have retrospectively analyzed records of 56 patients who were admitted because of electrical injury to our burn center from 1994 to 2008, compared results with the current literature, and focused our review on regional differences. Patients in our collective were predominantly young men (71%, n = 40/56) and those who resulted from work-related accidents (59%, n = 33/56). The mean total burn surface area was 26%. In all, 93% of patients needed at least 1 operation, with 43% of patients requiring at least 1 surgical intervention during a follow-up hospital stay. The mean length-of-stay was 44 days. Two patients died, accounting for a mortality rate of 3.6%. When comparing high to low-voltage injuries, patients in the former group were significantly younger, had more operations, and required a longer length-of-stay. With respect to work-related high-voltage injuries, job-specific male-predominance explains for the demographic distribution of admissions. Low-voltage injuries continue to have low mortality rates in this part of Europe, most likely as a result of established high security standards as well as access to emergency treatment with subsequent intensive and specialist surgical care.