Epidemiological studies of electrical injuries in Shaanxi province of China: a retrospective report of 383 cases

A statistical survey was conducted at the Burn Unit of the Tangdu Hospital, Shaanxi, China, during the 10-year period from January 2000 to December 2009. In this retrospective study, 383 patients who admitted to our burn unit because of electrical trauma were included. Data including the patient's general condition, clinical presentation, complications and operation times was collected retrospectively and analyzed with epidemiological methods. Subjects in our collective were predominantly male (90.3%, n=346/383) and were composed by those who injured in work-related incidents (78.3%, n=300/383), rural individuals (58.2%, n=223/383) and students (9.4%, n=36/383). High voltage was directly correlated to severity clinical complications, and amputation. The percentage of myocardial impairment was 79.3% (n=92/116) among patients who suffered with electrical current through heart tissue. Along with the more developed east area of China, electrical injuries are becoming a growing concern of the developing West part in China as well. Electrical injuries induce serious tissue damage, need long hospital stay, and result in high rate of permanent disability and economic hardship for the afflicted families. A competent prevention program needs to be developed to address this problem.