Predictive Factors for Clinical Severity and Cardiopulmonary Arrest in Pediatric Electrical Injuries in Southeastern Turkey.
OBJECTIVE
An electrical injury (EI) is an emergency that causes high morbidity and mortality each year. The aim of this study was to define the epidemiological, clinical, and laboratory factors that might predict severe patients and cardiac arrest in pediatric EI cases.


METHODS
All of the patients' medical files were reviewed retrospectively through a 2-year period for the demographic, clinical, and laboratory findings. The patients were classified into the severe injury group or the mild injury group. The SPSS (Chicago, Ill) software was used to analyze the data.


RESULTS
Among the 38 patients, 18 patients (47.4%) were in the mild group, and 20 patients (52.6%) were in the severe group. Low-voltage injuries were observed in 35 (92.1%) of the patients. Most of the severe patients were injured with low voltage (75%) and in household settings (85%). Plug and sockets were the most observed source of the injuries in all of the patients, whereas water-related injuries were most prevalent in the severe group. The source of injury was different in the mild and severe groups (P = 0.009). In the severe group, 13 patients (34.2%) were resuscitated after cardiopulmonary arrest. In the multivariate analysis of the demographic data, the most predictive parameters for cardiac arrest and the clinical severity in EIs are the factors of electrical cables and water.


CONCLUSIONS
Electrical injuries are a significant concern in the pediatric population. Our results showed that low voltage and household electricity could cause morbidity and mortality.
Aykut
A
Çağlar
Division of Pediatric Neurology, Department of Pediatrics.
Adnan
A
Ayvaz
Department of Pediatrics.
Ahmet
A
Güzeçiçek
Division of Pediatric Cardiology, Department of Pediatrics, Sanliurfa Children's Hospital, Sanliurfa.
Ali
A
Yildirim
Department of Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Dokuz Eylul University Faculty of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey.
Utku
U
Karaarslan
Department of Pediatrics.
Aslan
A
Babayiğit
Murat
M
Duman
D000293:Adolescent; D016887:Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004556:Electric Injuries / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006323:Heart Arrest / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology