Evaluation of Electric Burn Injury Cases Admitted in Burns Centre, Karachi

Abstract

Objective To evaluate epidemiology and outcome of patients admitted with Electric Burn injury to Burns Centre, Civil Hospital Karachi; from January, 2006 to December, 2011. Background An electrical injury occurs when a current passes through the body, interfering with the function of an internal organ or sometimes burning tissue. It accounts for 4% to 6.5% of all admissions to burns units in the United States and for approximately 1000 fatalities per year. Methodology Retrospective Hospital Based Observational Study. Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted in the Burns Centre, Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK)from January, 2006 to December, 2011. Patients and Methods The study included electric burn patients, belonging from all age groups, ethnicitiesand either gender, who were admitted to Burns centre, CHK from January 2006 to 2011. Patients’ data with thehistory of electric buns were collected and analyzed by SPSS version 17.0 using descriptive analysis. Records having data missing in three or more variables were discarded. Results Out of total 371 patients, 336 (90.5%) were males while 35 (9.5%) were females. The mean age of electric burn injury patients was found to be 27.35 ±12.38. The proportion of age-groups most affected by electric burn injury was between 21 and 30 years. Conclusion Electric burn injury predominantly involves young males aged 21-30 years. Our study has found an increasing frequency of patients sustaining severe injuries in the successive years. Since such devastatinginjuries stem from largely avoidable hazards, there is need for adoption of preventive strategies.

Keywords

• electrical burn
• burn centre
• epidemiology
• incidences