KARDIOCHIRURGIA DOROSŁYCH
Thermal burn during open heart surgery

Background: Electrosurgery helps surgeons to perform procedures faster and with less bleeding.

Aim of the study: This paper was designed to illustrate some aspects of electrical burns, their potential causes in our operating room and the method which guided us to the technical solutions of the problem.

Material and methods: This case-control study included 129 patients who underwent cardiac operations at a tertiary university medical center. Forty-one patients experienced burn during the operation during this period. The demographic and perioperative characteristics of this group (as case group) were compared to the remainder (88 patients) who had operations on the same days, but had no burns (as control group). Causative factors and preventive measures were reviewed.

Results: It was observed that a greater number of patients in the burn group had diabetes and hypertension, were operated on in an emergency setting (P = 0.001), and had a longer aortic clamp time. After the assessment of the monopolar electrosurgery equipment and restoring the electrical conditions of the operating rooms, it was determined that the shields covering the operating table were not completely insulated from current.

Conclusions: Burning was the result of incomplete insulation of the patients from the operating table. Identifying the pitfalls in dealing with electrosurgery and simple precautions help to reduce such preventable complications.