The importance of a multidisciplinary approach in the treatment of mutilating electrical injury: a case study

Electrical burns are not ranked among the most frequent type of injuries, but they have the most devastating potential of all thermal injuries and often cause lifelong stigmatization. Those primarily affected are young males: work injuries predominate. An electrical burn is a specific nosological unit that has multiple acute and chronic abnormal manifestations. In this study we describe the case of a young man who suffered an electrical injury after contact with a high-voltage line (22,000 volts) while paragliding. This contact was followed by a 10 m fall. In our work we present the need for multidisciplinary cooperation along with the opportunities, problems and risks that accompany the treatment of this type of injury.