Interleukin-8 is elevated in cerebrospinal fluid following high-voltage electrical injury with late-onset paraplegia suggesting neuronal damage at the microlevel as causative factor

• Published in: Burns Vol. 36; no. 3; pp. e7 - e9
• Main Authors: Antepohl, W, Dahle, C, Sjöberg, F, Thorfinn, J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier Ltd 01-05-2010
• Subjects: Accidents, Occupational; Adult; Biomarkers - cerebrospinal fluid; Critical Care; Electric Injuries - complications; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Interleukin-8 - cerebrospinal fluid; Male; MEDICIN; MEDICINE; Paraplegia - etiology; Spinal Cord Injuries - etiology
• ISSN: 0305-4179; 1879-1409; 1879-1409
• DOI: 10.1016/j.burns.2008.11.012

The patient, a 31-year-old male, sustained an electric burn injury (16 kV, AC/DC) while working with electric power lines. He was acutely admitted to a national burn center in Southeast Sweden, where burns equalling 29% of the total body surface area were noted. The burns were located at the front of the abdomen, upper arms bilaterally, and the left hip region, and the lesions were estimated to be mainly of the dermal type, what was believed initially to be caused mainly by an electric flash. There were no obvious entry or exit sites of the electric current. However, myoglobin in plasma was elevated as a sign of muscular degradation, suggesting that at least some current had passed through the tissues. According to the paramedic report there was an episode of a few minutes of unconsciousness immediately after the injury, but the patient was fully awake and alert on admission. There was no concomitant trauma.