A rare complication of lightning strike: Pulmonary contusion

Lightning strike is a devastating disaster, leading to various life-threating complications and even death. In lightning striking victims, high-voltage electric current can destroy many tissues and organs through various mechanisms. One of these mechanisms is the blunt trauma that injures the organs by creating a blast effect. Although not frequent, blunt trauma may result in various solid organ injuries such as pulmonary contusion. In this article, we reported a 15-year-old male patient who was admitted to the emergency department because of lightning strike in open terrain. Although he was conscious and vital signs were normal at presentation, respiratory distress developed on the 4th day. Unilateral pulmonary contusion was detected on the computerized tomography of the thorax. The patient was treated with supportive oxygen and intravenous hydration therapy. His respiratory distress improved on the 6th day and control posteroanterior chest radiograph revealed that pulmonary hemorrhage was spontaneously resorbed. On the 9th day, he was discharged with normal respiratory findings. The patient did not have any complaints during the 3-month follow-up after discharge.

Yýldýrým çarpmasýnýn nadir bir komplikasyonu: Pulmoner kontüzyon

Yýldýrým çarpmasý, yaþamý tehdit eden çeþitli komplikasyonlara ve hatta ölüme neden olan yýkýcý bir afettir. Yýldýrým çarpmasý kurbanlarýnda, yüksek voltajlý elektrik akýmý, çeþitli mekanizmalar aracýlýðýyla birçok doku ve organý tahrip edebilir. Bu mekanizmalardan biri, patlama etkisi yaratarak organlara zarar veren künt travmadýr. Sýk olmamakla birlikte, künt travma, pulmoner kontüzyon gibi çeþitli solid organ yaralanmalarýna neden olabilmektedir. Bu yazýda, açýk arazide yýldýrým çarpmasý nedeniyle acil servise baþvuran 15 yaþýnda bir erkek hasta sunuldu. Hastanýn baþvuru sýrasýnda bilinci açýk ve vital bulgularý normal olmasýna raðmen dördüncü günde solunum sýkýntýsý geliþti. Toraks bilgisayarlý tomografisinde tek taraflý pulmoner kontüzyon saptanan hastaya oksijen desteði ve intravenöz hidrasyon tedavisi verildi. Altýncý günde solunum sýkýntýsý düzelen hastanýn kontrol posteroanterior akciðer grafisinde pulmoner kanamanýn spontan rezorbe olduðu görüldü. Dokuzuncu günde normal solunum bulgularý ile taburcu edildi. Hastanýn taburcu olduktan sonraki 3 aylýk takibinde herhangi bir yakýnmasý geliþmedi. (NCI-2019-0215.R2)