Analysis of fall from height cases due to electrical injury: evaluation by comparing with fall from height and only electrical injury cases

Abstract

Objective: Trauma is the leading cause of deaths worldwide. Electrical injury causes many damage to the body according to the elektrical load, considerably mortality. Falls from height are one of the most common causes of trauma in the world, it is a condition with high morbidity and mortality. Falls from height due to electrical injury that caused by mechanisms both electrical injury and falling from a height are complex injuries . Although cases of falling from height due to electrical injury have been reported in the literature, there are no studies examining them. The aim of this study is to examine cases of falls from height due to electrical injury, its clinical features were compared to only electrical injury cases and only falls from height. Methods: This is a retrospective cross-sectional study. Cases admitted to the emergency department of Dicle University Hospital between January 2015 and December 2021 were examined. In this study, 75 cases who fell from a height due to electrical injury, 75 cases who had only electrical injury, and 75 cases who fell only from a height were received. Trauma cases included in the study were examined age, gender, ground of fall, fall height, workplace accident and suicide status, electrical voltage, burn and trauma scores, laboratory findings, mortality. Results: Among the 75 cases falling from height due to electrical injury, 69 (92%) survived, 6 (8%) died. The median age was 24 (IQR: 17-37) years old. Of the cases, 70 (93.30%) were male, 53 (70.70%) were high voltage, 35 (46.70%) were workplace accidents. Among the variables examined, lactic dehydrogenase (LDH), creatinine kinase (CK), creatinine kinase myocardial band (CK-MB), total body burn surface area (TBSA%), Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) for burns were the factors affecting mortality( p<0.05). Comparison of cases who fell from a height due to electric injury and cases of only electric injury TBSA%, AIS for burns, Abbreviated Burn Severity Index (ABSI), Injury Severity Score (ISS), complications, high voltage, length of stay (LOS) were higher in patients who fell from height due to electric injury, with a significant difference (p<0.001). Comparison of cases of falling from a height due to electric injury and cases of only falling from height age, male gender, workplace accident rate were higher in patients who fell from height due to electric injury, with a significant difference (p<0.001). Conclusion: Falls from height due to electrical injury are major traumas that affect young adult men and have high mortality and complication rates, caused by high-voltage electrical injury. This trauma mechanism shows differences from only electric injury and only falls from height injuries.

Keywords

• Fall from height due to electrical injury
• fall from height
• electrical injury
• mortality
• workplace accident

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