Torres PRS, Herrán MFS

Language: Spanish
References: 27
Page: 75-81
PDF size: 211.93 Kb.

ABSTRACT

Burns and injuries caused by electrical burns generally are severe and potentially grievous. Tissue shock damage caused by electrical discherge may not be easy to asses objetively at the moment of the electrical discharge because of specific pathophysiology; therefore, the prognosis is uncertain. Electrical burn injuries may produce progressive and irreversible tissue damage, leading to vascular damage and necrosis. Hence, the plastic surgeon may be obliged to dismiss any salvage or reconstructive procedure making radical decisions towards the surgical management, such as limb amputation or any other anatomical structure. This situation generates a devastating physical, emotional, work and economic impact for the patient causing him to have a poor quality of life. The objective of this work is to know the incidence and prevalence of limb amputation in patients with diagnosis of electrical burn that were managed in the Burn Unit of the National Medical Center «20 de Noviembre», and compare our results with the data from world reports. We reviewed the electronic records of patients with diagnosis of electrical burn, from March 1st, 2009 to April 30th, 2013. We analyzed 21 patients: 4 women (19%) and 17 men (81%). The age ranged between 13 and 67 years old. The frequency of amputation was observed in 8 patients (38%), finding a prevalence of amputation between 18.1% y 61.5%. The highest prevalence of amputation correponded to be the right upper limb (76.2%). All the patients that required amputation of any structure had contact with high voltage energy. The incidence and prevalence of limb amputation secondary to electrical injuries in our Burn Unit is similar and consistent to that reported in world literature. We consider to perform and implement microsurgical saving procedures in a timely way of great importance in order to counteract tissue necrosis as much as possible and therefore decrease the need of amputation and increase feasibility for a future microsurgical final reconstruction, restoring limb function and improving the quality of life for our patients.

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