Abstract
We report a 21-year-old Japanese man who developed a spinal cord injury following a 66,000 volt electrical burn. About five weeks after the burn, weakness in both lower extremities occurred. We initially thought that this was due to the delayed recovery of muscle destruction since myoglobinemia and increased myogenic enzymes such as creatinine phosphokinase, GOT, GPT were observed in the early stage of treatment. However, a neurological examination revealed that it was due to a spinal cord injury. Spinal cord injuries following electrical burns, reported in America and Europe since about 1930, have not previously been reported in Japan. However, spinal cord injuries may be more frequent than had been generally recognized. We should thus be aware of the possibility of potential spinal cord injury in all severe electrical burns.
