TY  - JOUR
PY  - 1993//
TI  - Auditory and neuropsychiatric behavior patterns after electrical injury
JO  - Journal of burn care and rehabilitation
A1  - Grossman, A. R.
A1  - Tempereau, C. E.
A1  - Brones, M. F.
A1  - Kulber, H. S.
A1  - Pembrook, L. J.
SP  - 169
EP  - 175
VL  - 14
IS  - 2 Pt 1
N2  - Major electrical injury causes widespread tissue destruction. Slow and incomplete functional recovery after electrocution-type injury has led clinicians to suspect residual brain damage. One hundred and one consecutive patients who were admitted to the hospital because of electrical injury were studied. Forty-eight had electric-current injury. The other 53 had flash, contact, or arcing burns (electrical injury without passage of current). A primary study cohort of 16 patients with electric-current injury and 18 patients who had electrical injury without passage of current received specialized trauma-based psychiatric treatment, which was coordinated with serial auditory and neurologic studies. This strategy served to highlight discrepancies between preinjury and postinjury performance. Twelve of 16 patients with electric-current injury showed neurobehavioral (organic) dysfunction after 1 year, which implied brain damage; eight showed persistent auditory changes. Four of 18 patients who had electrical injury without passage of current met criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder after 1 year; none had neurobehavioral or auditory dysfunction. These findings indicate that patients with electric-current injury are at risk for permanent auditory dysfunction and brain damage, whereas those with other types of electrical burns are not.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0273-8481
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/
ID  - ref1
ER  -