[An Experimental Study on the diagnosis of high voltage electrical injury by means of biological oxygen consumption measurement].
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the degrees of the degeneration or the necrosis of muscle tissue injured by high voltage electricity as determined by biological oxygen consumption measurement.


METHODS
An animal model with high voltage electricity designed in our laboratory was employed in the study. Muscle tissue sized 12 mm x 10 mm x 1 mm at electric burn produced 5 spots of the rabbit injured legs was harvested for the measurement of tissue oxygen consumption for 100s at 2, 8, 14, 24, 48 postburn hours and 5 postburn day. At the same time histological examination was made.


RESULTS
One hundred and eighty two pieces of tissue samples were examined. Among them 20 samples with oxygen consumption below 8.7 kpa/100s (43.5%) showed necrosis under LM, while 157 samples with oxygen consumption of 16.9 to 8.78 kpa/100s (84% similar 44%) showed histological necrosis and different degrees of mixed degeneration and normal tissue, and 5 samples with oxygen consumption above 17 kpa/100s (85%) showed normal histological structure.


CONCLUSIONS
The lower the tissue oxygen consumption was, the more severe the tissue degeneration and necrosis were. Oxygen consumption measurement could be valuable in the determination of the degree of tissue injury inflicted by electricity in terms of its convenience, rapidity and accuracy.
Li
W
W
Department of Burns and Plastic Surgery, Shen Zhen Red Cross Hospital, Shen Zhen 518035, Guang Dong P.R. China.
Zhu
Z
Z
Xu
X
X
D000818:Animals; D002058:Burns, Electric / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D009132:Muscles / Q000293:injuries / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D009336:Necrosis; D010100:Oxygen / Q000378:metabolism; D010101:Oxygen Consumption / Q000502:physiology*; D011817:Rabbits
D010100:Oxygen