Acute electrical injury: A systematic review

Abstract

Objective: To review low-voltage, high-voltage and lightening electrical burns in adults and children, identify novel areas that are not recognized and improve treatments results and outcome. Methods: An extensive literature search on electrical burn injuries was performed using Ovid Medline, PubMed and Embase databases from 1976 to 2016. Studies related to electrical injury in the adult and children (Results: Total occurrence of electrical injury among burn injuries ranged from 3.5% to 15.0%. Most of them were low voltage (73%) and one fourth were high voltage and percentage of lightening injuries were very low around 2%–4% of total cases of electrical injury. Mortality is somehow higher among high voltage electrical injuries and lightening. Most of complications of them were morbid in kidney, heart, extremities (including amputations) and nervous systems. Long-term psychological problems were reported with greater incidence rates in highvoltage injuries. Psychological and posttraumatic stress disorders were also reported. Mortality rates from electrical injuries were 2.6% in low voltage and 5.2% in high voltage. >Conclusions: High-voltage injury leads to greater morbidity and mortality than low-voltage one. Lightening has mortality of about 32%, higher rates of complications and specialty long-term complications. Strict multi-specialty treatment and rehabilitations are required for proper treatment of electrical injuries.

Keywords

• Electrical injury
• High voltage
• Low voltage
• Lightening
• Morbidity
• Mortality
• Rehabilitation