The Reviews of Electrical Injury on Respiratory System: Analysis for Patients Who Had Pulmonary Function Test

Lee, Seung Hwa; Kim, Cheol Hong; Park, Sunghoon; Choi, Jeong Hee; Park, Yong Bum; Kim, Dong Gyu; Hyun, In Gyu; Jung, Ki Suck; Kim, Changhwan

Abstract

PURPOSE: Although not common, electrical injury may cause severe visceral injury. Injury severity depends on the amperage, the pathway of current through the victim's body, and the duration of contact with sources. Respiratory arrest is one of the common causes of acute death in serious electrical injury. But there are no specific injuries to the lungs or the airways directly attributable to electrical injury. Survivors of electrical injury may develop respiratory complications as a result of their injury or treatment. The purpose of this study is to review one institution's experience with electrical injury that may affect respiratory system.
METHODS
From 2002 to 2007, 566 patients admitted to our institute were identified with electrical injury. Of these, 37 survived patients who had performed the spirometry were enrolled retrospectively. We analyzed the characteristics of electrical injury, clinical courses including respiratory complications and the findings of pulmonary function tests in the patients with electrical injury.
RESULTS
The extent of the burn wounds ranged from 1% to 55% of total body surface area (mean, 16.19+/-17.83%). Of these injuries, 32 (86.5%) were high voltage (> or =1,000 V) and 3 (8.1%) were low voltage (<1,000 V). All patients were men and work-related, with the most common occupations being electricians (45.9%) and construction workers (37.8%). The average hospital stay was 111.3+/-78.9 (range, 8 to 430) days. The most common injury site of entry and exit was hand (37.8%) and upper extremity (21.6%) or foot (21.6%). Acute lung injury (2.7%), pleural effusion (21.6%), atelectasis (8.1%) and pneumonia (8.1%) were developed during the admission periods. In recovery phase of these injuries, most spirometric values showed near normal ranges of the percent predicted.
CONCLUSION
Through the analysis of 37 electrical injury cases, we could identify that some respiratory complications and pulmonary functions following electrical injury.