Histologic assessment of low-voltage electrical burns: experimental study with pigskin.

The authors have carried out an experimental protocol on pigs, producing identical electrical burns to examine clinically and histologically the evolution of these burns with time. A clinical lesion in the form of a rosette was observed. It was composed of three zones: a central zone of carbonization, a pale ischemic intermediate zone, and an erythematous peripheral zone. Microscopic observation showed vascular thrombosis in the intermediate and peripheral zones in addition to necrosis of the central zone. These vascular lesions can be classified in three stages, I, II and III, according to the degree of vascular damage. The evolution of the lesions was stabilized at 72 hours after burn injury. These observations are important in determining the surgical treatment, particularly debridement, on postburn day 3, when the prognosis of the intermediate and peripheral zones must be taken into account.