Chronic osteomyelitis of the right femur after electrical burn: A case report

Abstract

Introduction and importance: Osteomyelitis is a bone infection that can occur as a rare late complication of electrical burns. It may occur in any bony part of the body where there has been an electrical burn injury. Osteomyelitis occurs several weeks or months after the initial infection, and can persist for several months or years, and is difficult to manage. To our knowledge, to date, no chronic osteomyelitis of the femur has been reported after an electrical burn injury.

Case presentation: The present case report is of a 40-year-old man who sustained a high voltage electrical burn injury involving his right upper and lower limbs as well as the posterior trunk. The estimated total body surface area burned was 20 %. He developed chronic osteomyelitis of the right femur several months after the initial injury.

Clinical discussion: The upper extremities are the sites most frequently affected by chronic osteomyelitis following electrical burns. Staphylococcus aureus is the most common causative organism, and treatment entails a combined medical and surgical approach.

Conclusion: Osteomyelitis of the long bones of the lower extremities is an uncommon complication of electrical burn injuries involving the lower limbs. We, however, advocate a high index of suspicion when faced with electrical burns of the lower extremity.

Keywords: Case report; Chronic osteomyelitis; Electrical burn; Entry point; Exit point; High voltage.

Fig. 1

Showing entry and exit wounds. Yellow arrow shows entry wound while black arrow shows exit wound. (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

Fig. 2

A&B. showing the upper limb and thigh wounds after initial debridement.

Fig. 3

A&B. showing features of osteomyelitis (sequestrum) as shown by the arrows.