Download PDF
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Indian J Plast Surg 2017; 50(02): 217-219
DOI: 10.4103/ijps.IJPS_177_16
Case Report
Association of Plastic Surgeons of India

Direct electrical injury to brachial plexus

Maksud Mubarak Devale
Department of Plastic and Reconstructive surgery, Lokmanya Tilak Municipal Medical College and General Hospital, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
,
Gaurav Jatin Kadakia
Department of Plastic and Reconstructive surgery, Lokmanya Tilak Municipal Medical College and General Hospital, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
,
Vicky Ghewarchand Jain
Department of Plastic and Reconstructive surgery, Lokmanya Tilak Municipal Medical College and General Hospital, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
,
Rohit Prakash Munot
Department of Plastic and Reconstructive surgery, Lokmanya Tilak Municipal Medical College and General Hospital, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
› Author Affiliations
Further Information

Publication History

Publication Date:
09 July 2019 (online)

Also available at
   Permissions and Reprints

ABSTRACT

Electrical current can cause neurological damage directly or by conversion to thermal energy. However, electrical injury causing isolated brachial plexus injury without cutaneous burns is extremely rare. We present a case of a 17-year-old boy who sustained accidental electrical injury to left upper extremity with no associated entry or exit wounds. Complete motor and sensory loss in upper limb were noted immediately after injury. Subsequently, the patient showed partial recovery in muscles around the shoulder and in ulnar nerve distribution at 6 months. However, there was no improvement in muscles supplied by musculocutaneous, median and radial nerves. On exploration at 6 months after trauma, injury to the infraclavicular plexus was identified. Reconstruction of musculocutaneous, median and radial nerves by means of sural nerve cable grafts was performed. The patient has shown excellent recovery in musculocutaneous nerve function with acceptable recovery of radial nerve function at 1-year post-injury.

KEY WORDS

Brachial plexopathy - brachial plexus injury - electrical injury
 

  • REFERENCES

  • 1 Koumbourlis AC. Electrical injuries. Crit Care Med 2002; 30: S424-30
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 2 Lee RC, Cravalho EG, Burke JF, Grube BJ, Heimbach DM. editors. Acute and Delayed Neurological Sequelae of Electrical Injury in Electrical Trauma. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 1992. p. 133-52, 430
    Google Scholar
  • 3 Petty PG, Parkin G. Electrical injury to the central nervous system. Neurosurgery 1986; 19: 282-4
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 4 Wilbourn AJ. Peripheral nerve disorders in electrical and lightning injuries. Semin Neurol 1995; 15: 241-55
    Article in Thieme ConnectPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 5 Suematsu N, Matsuura J, Atsuta Y. Brachial plexus injury caused by electric current through the ulnar nerve. Case report and review of the literature. Arch Orthop Trauma Surg 1989; 108: 400-2
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 6 Lee RC, Kolodney MS. Electrical injury mechanisms: Electrical breakdown of cell membranes. Plast Reconstr Surg 1987; 80: 672-9
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 7 Lee R, Dougherty W. Electrical injury: Mechanisms, manifestations and therapy. Trans Dielectr Electr Insul 2003; 10: 810-9
    Google Scholar
  • 8 Lee RC, Zhang D, Hannig J. Biophysical injury mechanisms in electrical shock trauma. Annu Rev Biomed Eng 2000; 2: 477-509
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 9 Duff K, McCaffrey RJ. Electrical injury and lightning injury: A review of their mechanisms and neuropsychological, psychiatric, and neurological sequelae. Neuropsychol Rev 2001; 11: 101-16
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 10 Silversides J. The neurological sequelae of electrical injury. Can Med Assoc J 1964; 91: 195-204
    PubMedGoogle Scholar