فراواني قطع اندام ها در اثر سوختگي الكتريكي در بيماران بستري بيمارستان شهيد مطهري تهران

Prevalence of amputations due to electrical burns among inpatients at Shahid Motahari Hospital, Tehran, Iran

Objective(s): To determine the prevalence of amputations due to electrical burns among inpatients at Shahid Motahari Hospital, Tehran. This hospital is the main referral center for burns in Iran. Methods: In this descriptive study, we investigated all inpatients suffering from electrical burns over a period of 3 years (April 1998 to April 2001). There were a total of 106 cases, and we recorded data on age, sex, burn voltage, width and depth of burn, amputation, fasciotomy, debridement, escharotomy, graft and any associated trauma. Results: The prevalence of amputation was 18.9%. Thirty percent of amputations were in females and 10% in children under the age of 10. The rate of electrical burns in Iranian children and woman was higher than other countries. The rate of amputation due to electrical burns with low voltage (< 1000 volts) was 55%. The 19-29y age group accounted for most cases (35%). One third of the cases had Burned Surface Area (BSA) of 30-39% while 75% had 3rd-degree bums. In only 10% of burns fasciatomy had been performed and 80% had at least one debridement before amputation. Also 45% of them had associated trauma, mostly limb fractures. Conclusion: With regard to the study findings, the necessity of public educations in prevention of electrical burns should be insisted, especially because of the higher rate of electrical burns occurring in homes in comparison with other countries. According to the importance of scharotomy and fasciatomy in prevention of irreversible vascular and neural ischemia and because only few patients receive such remedies, the necessity of education and performing these two simple surgical procedures by emergency physicians is essential.