Frequency and Outcome of Spontaneous Hemorrhage in Electrical Burn Injuries at Burns Centre, Karachi

Objective: To determine the frequency of spontaneous hemorrhage and its effect on mortality rate among electric burn injury patients. Materials and Methods: It is a retrospective review of the consecutive patients with electric injuries who were managed at Burn Centre, Karachi over a 4 year period spanning from January 2008- December 2011. Data were extracted regarding age of patient; site involved in electric burn, artery involved in spontaneous hemorrhage, surgical intervention, recurrence of hemorrhage and associated mortality. Results: Electric burn constituted 1.42% of admissions in our burn Centre (n=208). Frequency of spontaneous hemorrhage was found in 25% (n=52) of cases. Frequent site of injury involved in spontaneous hemorrhage was upper limbs (44.25%), followed by lower limbs and anterior trunk. Most common vessel involved in spontaneous hemorrhage was axillary artery (19.23%, n=10) followed by radial artery (11.53%, n=6) and popliteal artery (11.53%, n=6). Surgical procedures carried out were primary ligation and amputation. Bleeding recurred in 23.07% of cases. Total mortality in electric burns cases was 13.46 % (n=28/208), however out of these 28 cases, mortality rate due to spontaneous hemorrhage was 32.14% (n=9/28). Conclusion: Prompt and timely institution of appropriate surgical interventions among electric burn injury patients has the potential to reduce the frequency of life threatening episodes of spontaneous hemorrhage and improve the outcome in terms of morbidity and survival.