Download PDF
AJP Rep 2013; 03(02): 103-104
DOI: 10.1055/s-0033-1348403
Case Report
Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

Accidental Electric Shock during Pregnancy: Reflection on a Case

Johnny Awwad
1   Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon
,
Antoine Hannoun
1   Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon
,
Farah Fares
1   Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon
,
Ghina Ghazeeri
1   Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon
› Author Affiliations
Further Information

Publication History

22 March 2013

10 May 2013

Publication Date:
11 July 2013 (online)

   Permissions and Reprints

Abstract

Objectives Data on fetal effects following accidental electric shock during pregnancy are scarce. We report on a case of accidental maternal electric shock associated with benign fetal arrhythmia in a woman at 28 weeks' gestation.

Study Design Case report.

Results Although electrocution involving low-voltage, low-frequency current has been associated with fatal cardiac arrhythmias and conduction abnormalities, two protective parameters in the present case likely reduced the fetal injury: the dry skin at the site of current entry and the hand-to-hand pathway of current flow.

Conclusion Because the pathophysiology of electric injury is altered during pregnancy, assessment of fetal well-being should be prompted no matter how trivial an incident may appear.

Keywords

accidental electric shock - pregnancy - fetal injury - electrocution
 

  • References

  • 1 Sornogyi E, Tedeschi CG. Injury by electrical force. In: Tedeschi CG, Eckert WG, Tedeschi LG, , eds. Forensic Medicine. Philadelphia, PA: W.B. Saunders; 1977: 645-676
    Google Scholar
  • 2 Rosati P, Exacoustos C, Puggioni GF, Mancuso S. Growth retardation in pregnancy: experimental model in the rabbit employing electrically induced thermal placental injury. Int J Exp Pathol 1995; 76: 179-181
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 3 Fatovich DM. Electric shock in pregnancy. J Emerg Med 1993; 11: 175-177
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 4 Einarson A, Bailey B, Inocencion G, Ormond K, Koren G. Accidental electric shock in pregnancy: a prospective cohort study. Am J Obstet Gynecol 1997; 176: 678-681
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 5 Spies C, Trohman RG. Narrative review: electrocution and life-threatening electrical injuries. Ann Intern Med 2006; 145: 531-537
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 6 Jain S, Bandi V. Electrical and lightning injuries. Crit Care Clin 1999; 15: 319-331
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 7 James TN, Riddick L, Embry JH. Cardiac abnormalities demonstrated postmortem in four cases of accidental electrocution and their potential significance relative to nonfatal electrical injuries of the heart. Am Heart J 1990; 120: 143-157
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 8 Graber J, Ummenhofer W, Herion H. Lightning accident with eight victims: case report and brief review of the literature. J Trauma 1996; 40: 288-290
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar