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. 2010 Mar 31;23(1):4-7.

Electrical Burn Injuries. An Eight-year Review

Z Buja  1 , H Arifi, E Hoxha
Affiliations

Electrical Burn Injuries. An Eight-year Review

Z Buja et al. Ann Burns Fire Disasters. .

Abstract
in English, French

Electrical injuries are very aggressive pathological lesions with heavy functional and aesthetic consequences. The primary cause of their gravity is the progressive tissue necrosis that occurs with the continuous extension of wound necrosis, even leading to loss of the entire injured extremity. The goal of this study is to analyse the role of the inefficiency of the electric energy system in the incidence of electrical injuries in Kosovo during the period December 2000 to 2007 suffered by a total number of 182 patients treated in the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Pristina, Kosovo. Electrical injuries accounted overall for 17.25% of all patients admitted with burns; 35.72% of the burns were due to high voltage and 64.28% to low voltage; among the patients with contact burns the amputation rate was 28.58%, and four patients (7.14%) died. These results suggest that the aggravation of the electric energy system led to an increase in the number of patients with electrical injuries.

Les lésions d'origine électrique constituent des pathologies très agressives qui provoquent de lourdes conséquences fonctionnelles et esthétiques. La principale cause de leur gravité est la nécrose tissulaire progressive qui se produit avec l'extension continuelle de la nécrose de la lésion, qui conduit même à la perte de l'entière extrémité lésée. L'objectif de cette étude est d'analyser le rôle joué par l'inefficacité du système de l'énergie électrique dans l'incidence des lésions d'origine électrique au Kosovo pendant la période décembre 2000-2007 subies par un nombre total de 182 patients traités dans le Département de Chirurgie Plastique et Reconstructrice, Pristina, Kosovo. Les patients qui présentaient des lésions d'origine électrique constituaient globalement 17,25% de tous les patients brûlés hospitalisés, atteints dans respectivement 35,72% et 64,28% des cas par la haute ou par la basse tension; parmi les patients atteints de brûlures dues au contact le taux d'amputation était 28.58%, et quatre patients (7.14%) sont décédés. Ces résultats font penser que l'aggravation de la situation de l'énergie électrique au Kosovo a provoqué une augmentation du nombre de patients atteints de lésions d'origine électrique.

Keywords: BURN; EIGHT-YEAR; ELECTRICAL; INJURIES; REVIEW.

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Figures

Table I
Table I. Annual distribution of patients with electrical injury
Table II
Table II. Distribution of patients by mechanism and voltage of injury
Table III
Table III. Amputation rate and level
Fig. 1a
Fig. 1a. Patient with total gangrene of upper extremity.
Fig. 1b
Fig. 1b. Shoulder disarticulation.
Figs. 2a
Figs. 2a. Reconstruction of defects with abdominal flap and skin graft.
Figs. 2b
Figs. 2b. Reconstruction of defects with abdominal flap and skin graft.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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