ORIGINAL RESEARCH

Treatment and rehabilitation of children with electrothermal injury

Rubtsov VV1, Tsap NA1, Shtukaturov AK2
About authors

1 Department of Pediatric Surgery, Pediatric Faculty,
Ural State Medical University, Yekaterinburg, Russia

2 Pediatric Burn Center,
Children’s City Clinical Hospital No. 9, Yekaterinburg, Russia

Correspondence should be addressed: Vladislav Rubtsov
ul. Repina, d. 3, Yekaterinburg, Russia, 260000; moc.liamg@691noegrus

Received: 2016-06-10 Accepted: 2016-07-23 Published online: 2017-01-05
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Electrothermal lesions are most often seen in pediatric injuries. This type of injury is uncommon, but is one of the leading causes of death and disability in children. Using medical records, we analyzed the outcomes of the treatment and rehabilitation of children with electrothermal lesions (n = 51) admitted to Pediatric Burn Center, Children’s City Clinical Hospital No. 9 (Yekaterinburg, Russia) over the period from 2010 to 2015. The patients were divided into two groups: group 1 (39 children) had injuries from electrical household appliances and group 2 (12 children) sustained high-voltage injuries. Primary surgical debridement was performed on all children; the extent and depth of the burns were established. The next step of surgical treatment for Group 1 included necrectomy and single-stage dermatoplasty; in group 2 necrectomy and the first stage of skin grafting (formation of a skin flap) were performed. Subsequently, all patients in group 2 received skin grafts for final closure of the skin defect. The duration of treatment in group 2 was 2 times longer than in group 1, due to larger burn areas (an average of 12 % vs. >5 %), longer burn shock (>24 h vs. 10 h), higher complication rate, and multiple stages of surgical treatment. Six patients from group 2 received surgical amputation. However, the division into groups according to the physical properties of the electric current can be beneficial for the development of more effective treatment algorithms.

Keywords: children, electrical current, electrothermal lesion, electrical injury, combustiology, pediatric injuries

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