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Home » Topics A–Z » Electrical burn
Author: Made Ananda Krisna, General Practitioner, Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital, Faculty of Medicine Universitas, Indonesia; Chief Editor: Hon A/Prof Amanda Oakley, Dermatologist, Hamilton, New Zealand, September 2015.
A burn is a form of tissue injury that is caused following contact with heat, flame, chemicals, electricity, or radiation. When electricity has caused the burn, it is known as an electrical burn [1].
Anyone who has contact with electrical current can get an electrical burn. Typically, an electrical injury/burn patient is a working, healthy, young man at home or in the workplace [2–4].
Electricity is defined as a flow of electrons. Electrons flow when there is a difference of electrical potential between by two points (voltage). The higher the voltage, the higher the current of electrons (the Law of Ohm).
Electrical burn is classically divided by two groups:
How much skin damage is experienced depends on [2]:
Electrical injury results in tissue/organ damages through three different pathways [2]:
Low voltage electric current leads to 2 well-circumscribed electrothermal burns [2,6]:
They may be deep partial-thickness or full-thickness burns [6].
High voltage injury may be due to direct contact or flashing.
An electric arc or spark, including a lightning strike, is produced between a highly-charged source and the ground, reaching temperatures of up to 2500C [5].
A kissing burn is an electric arc generated between two skin surfaces facing each other and sandwiching a joint, typically the elbow and knee flexures. The arc crosses the flexor crease and burns the two 'kissing' skin surfaces causing vast underlying tissue destruction [2,5].
A severe or fatal injury caused by electric shock is known as electrocution. Cutaneous involvement alone may underestimate the extent of underlying tissue damage [2,5,7].
Preceding electrical exposure confirms the diagnosis of an electrical burn.
In an unconscious patient in an appropriate environmental setting:
Note:
There are several ways to determine the TBSA [7].
Electrocardiography (ECG) should be conducted in every electrical burn case. Continuous cardiac monitoring is required if there is documented arrhythmia and signs of ischaemia, history of loss of consciousness, or suspected high voltage electrical injury [2].
Complete blood count, electrolytes, blood urea nitrogen, and creatinine are ordered for patients with substantial injuries or if there is a risk for conductive electrical injuries (presence of entry and exit wounds or rhythm abnormalities) [2].
Urinalysis to detect the positive presence of blood without red blood cells can identify myoglobinuria due to muscle destruction [2].
Creatinine kinase level should be measured in high voltage injuries because its peak concentration predicts extent of muscle injury, amputation risk, mortality, and length of stay [2].
In the pre-hospital setting, priorities are to:
Management of electric burn wounds should include [7]:
Options include:
Early decompression procedure is required for a contracted and tight compartment of extremity (eg, forearm, leg) based on a peripheral neurovascular evaluation.
Surgical debridement of unhealthy tissue followed with definitive wound closure is done at day 3 to 5 once the injured tissue is well demarcated.
Excision and grafting may be required for contractures a few weeks following deep partial thickness and full thickness burns.
Deep partial-thickness or full-thickness wounds inevitably cause scarring. Other potential long-term complications of electrical wounds include:
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