title: Sympathetic skin response in electrical burn injury.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Electrical burn has been reported to be highly associated with peripheral neuropathy. This study was designed to evaluate the sympathetic skin response (SSR) of electrical burn patients to determine whether the sympathetic nervous system is involved in these patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  The sympathetic skin response of 28 patients, suffering from electrical burn injury (divided into two groups of high voltage and low voltage exposure) was compared with that of 28 matched subjects, who had never experienced electrical burn. Bilateral palmar and plantar latency and amplitude of SSR were recorded in response to Median and Tibial nerve electrical stimulation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  SSR in all recording sites of the electrical burn patients compared showed significantly more prolonged latencies and reduced amplitudes, with their counterparts in the control group with no significant difference between the high voltage and low voltage electrical burns. There was no significant difference in SSR latency, between the entry and exit sites of the electrical current. The SSR amplitude however, showed more reduction in right hand than the left one, in whom the electrical current had entered the body from the right hand. The time lapse between the electrical burn and the SSR study was shown to play no role in the results.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Increased SSR latency in electrical burn injury may be a sign of autonomic nervous system involvement, through systemic responses to electrical burn.
authors.affiliation: Shiraz Burn Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Alireza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ashraf
authors.forename: Aliakbar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mohammadi
authors.forename: Sharareh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Roshanzamir
authors.forename: Mehdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ayaz
authors.forename: Hamidreza
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tolide-ie
authors.forename: Mohsen Zafar
authors.initials: MZ
authors.lastname: Ghasempoor
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002058:Burns, Electric / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D005260:Female; D005528:Foot / Q000294:innervation; D005712:Galvanic Skin Response / Q000502:physiology; D006225:Hand / Q000294:innervation; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D013564:Sympathetic Nervous System / Q000293:injuries / Q000503:physiopathology*; D055815:Young Adult