eMedicine Specialties > Trauma > Multiorgan Trauma Management

Lightning Injuries: Follow-up

Author: H Scott Bjerke, MD, FACS, Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Surgery, Indiana University School of Medicine, Medical Director of Trauma Services, Methodist Hospital, Clarian Health Partners, Inc
Contributor Information and Disclosures

Updated: Feb 26, 2009

Outcome and Prognosis

Overall, patients' outcomes and prognoses after most lightning strikes are very good. Many individuals struck by lightning are young and healthy and recover from the strike with minimal or no residual damage. In patients who endured a severe strike, the potential for permanent and debilitating neurologic and cardiac injury is greater.

Future and Controversies

Predicting the possibility or severity of any given lightning strike is impossible; therefore, preventive measures and education for those individuals at risk are the most effective methods of minimizing the mortality and morbidity of these injuries.2,18

Recommendations by the Lightning Safety Group of the American Meteorological Group have been published in the Annals of Emergency Medicine, and additional work by this group may help further educate the public and medical personnel, thereby minimizing future risk.2 Work and research by support groups, such as the Lightning Strike and Electric Shock Survivors International, may also expand our understanding of both the initial effects and the chronic effects of lightning injury.

 


More on Lightning Injuries

Overview: Lightning Injuries
Workup: Lightning Injuries
Treatment: Lightning Injuries
Follow-up: Lightning Injuries
References
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References

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Further Reading

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Keywords

lightning injuries, lightning burns, lightning, electrical injuries, electrical burns, lightning strikes, lightning flashes, lightning-related fatalities, direct strike, side flash, ground strike, flashover

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Contributor Information and Disclosures

Author

H Scott Bjerke, MD, FACS, Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Surgery, Indiana University School of Medicine, Medical Director of Trauma Services, Methodist Hospital, Clarian Health Partners, Inc
H Scott Bjerke, MD, FACS is a member of the following medical societies: American Association for the History of Medicine, American Association for the Surgery of Trauma, American College of Surgeons, Association for Academic Surgery, Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma, Midwest Surgical Association, National Association of EMS Physicians, Pan-Pacific Surgical Association, Royal Society of Medicine, Southwestern Surgical Congress, and Wilderness Medical Society
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Medical Editor

Marc D Basson, MD, PhD, MBA, Professor, Chair, Department of Surgery, Michigan State University
Marc D Basson, MD, PhD, MBA is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Surgeons and American Gastroenterological Association
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Pharmacy Editor

Francisco Talavera, PharmD, PhD, Senior Pharmacy Editor, eMedicine
Disclosure: eMedicine Salary Employment

Managing Editor

Robert L Sheridan, MD, Assistant Chief of Staff, Chief of Burn Surgery, Shriners Burns Hospital; Associate Professor of Surgery, Department of Surgery, Division of Trauma and Burns, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School
Robert L Sheridan, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Pediatrics, American Association for the Surgery of Trauma, American Burn Association, and American College of Surgeons
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

CME Editor

Timothy D Rice, MD, Associate Professor, Departments of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Saint Louis University School of Medicine
Timothy D Rice, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Pediatrics and American College of Physicians
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Chief Editor

John Geibel, MD, DSc, MA, Vice Chairman, Professor, Department of Surgery, Section of Gastrointestinal Medicine and Department of Cellular and Molecular Physiology, Yale University School of Medicine; Director of Surgical Research, Department of Surgery, Yale-New Haven Hospital
John Geibel, MD, DSc, MA is a member of the following medical societies: American Gastroenterological Association, American Physiological Society, American Society of Nephrology, Association for Academic Surgery, International Society of Nephrology, New York Academy of Sciences, and Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract
Disclosure: AMGEN Royalty Other

 
 
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