The role of bone scans in electric burns.

From June 1986 to May 1989, 17 patients who sustained high tension electric burns received preoperative 99mTc-MDP bone scan examinations. They were done to detect soft tissue and bone injury and also as a guide for debridement and amputation. From our experience, the correlation between the results of scanning and clinical findings is 88.9 per cent. They are very sensitive and reliable for decision making regarding debridement and limb amputation level when there is coagulation necrosis.