Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
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Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. · Oct 1999
Life after electrical injury. Risk factors for psychiatric sequelae.
Long-term cognitive and emotional deficits have been commonly reported in electrical injury (EI) survivors. However, it remains undetermined what factors may lead to the development of such effects in some patients and not in others. ⋯ Statistical associations were examined between major psychiatric diagnoses (posttraumatic stress disorder and major depression) and such EI descriptors as having experienced "no-let-go" or having been knocked away on contact, as well as loss of consciousness or altered states of consciousness at the scene of the accident (including amnesia for the event). The study results will help physicians determine which patients may be at increased risk of developing psychiatric symptoms and address these issues as part of their total rehabilitation plan.
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Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. · Oct 1999
Study on the distribution pattern of skin temperature in normal Chinese and detection of the depth of early burn wound by infrared thermography.
Conduct basic research of the distribution pattern of skin temperature and estimate the wound depth in normal Chinese in the early stage of burn injury by using technical thermography. ⋯ The depth of early burn wound can be detected by using infrared thermography, which is an objective, fast, non-touching, and noninvasive method.
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Although there have been great advances in the treatment of electrical injuries in the last 20 years, the extremity loss ratio in electrical injuries remains at an unacceptably high level. The primary reason for this is the progressive tissue necrosis and enlargement of the necrosis in the wound. The goal in this study is to examine possible ways to break the necrotic malignancy circle and save the form and function of damaged extremities. ⋯ This paper summarizes our experience of using this method in the treatment of 105 electrical injury patients (a total of 309 wounds) in the time period from 1 January 1986 to 31 December 1996. Satisfying results were obtained, with the extremity loss ratio decreasing to 7% as compared to 41.5% during the 10 years preceding 1984 at the same hospital. Thus, the urgent comprehensive reconstruction alternative presented here is an effective and workable method to manage electrical injuries.
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A total of 211 patients were admitted at the UP-PGH Burn Unit in 1995. Sixty-eight (32.2%) patients suffered burn injuries secondary to electrical injury. In the period from July to December 1995, a total of 28 patients were admitted because of burns caused by electricity. ⋯ A total of 22 operations were performed on 28 patients, including 7 extremity amputations, which makes an amputation rate of 25%. There were 5 deaths secondary to overwhelming wound sepsis, making an overall mortality rate of 21.7% and an operative mortality rate of 22.7%. The average length of hospital stay was 17.2 days.
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Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. · Oct 1999
Case ReportsElectrical injuries in Canadian burn care. Identification of unsolved problems.
Over the past decade, the Firefighters' Burn Treatment Unit of the University of Alberta Hospital in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, has treated 1399 inpatients suffering from thermal injury. Regional burn care is provided in a 10-bed intensive care unit with 18 plastic surgery reconstructive beds for a large referral region of central and northern Alberta, portions of the Northwest Territories, and neighboring provinces of British Columbia and Saskatchewan. Of the total burn inpatients during this period, 74 electrical injuries were treated (5.3% of all admissions): 71 were males (95.9%) and 3 females (4.1%). ⋯ Based on our analysis of electrical injury as it presents to one typical Canadian burn unit, our patients suffer limb loss on a delayed basis, which leads to substantial morbidity. Reconstruction of the upper extremity with microsurgical techniques after profound electrical injury has provided acceptable coverage, but in many instances is associated with poor or marginal sensory recovery limiting reemployment options for patients with upper extremity electrical burns. Further understanding of the cellular biology of delayed tissue loss after electric injury would offer the potential for reduction in amputation rate and improvement in functional outcome and overall morbidity.