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High tension electrical burns

A review of 85 patients

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Summary

In this study, 85 patients with high-tension electrical burns who were seen in an 11 year period were reviewed. Only victims with documented passage of high-tension electrical current (more than 1000 volts) through the body were included. A total of 210 operations were performed for exploration, debridement and closures of the injuries; 44 cases underwent a total of 65 amputations. Acute renal failure developed in two cases (2.3%) and both died. No cases of clostridial infection occurred. Four patients (4.7%) died in this series. We came to the conclusion that the primary treatment of these burns must include aggressive fluid resuscitation and early aggressive debridement.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Service of Plastic Surgery and Burns, “Valle de Hebron” General Hospital, Barcelona, Spain

    F. J. Escudero Nafs, F. Collado Aromir, I. Solano Carreira & P. S. Cormenzana Olaso

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  1. F. J. Escudero Nafs
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  2. F. Collado Aromir
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  3. I. Solano Carreira
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  4. P. S. Cormenzana Olaso
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Nafs, F.J.E., Aromir, F.C., Carreira, I.S. et al. High tension electrical burns. Eur J Plast Surg 16, 84–88 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00196438

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