Introduction. Electrotraumatism (ET) is rare to observe, but it presents a significant problem both for public health and forensic medicine. Purpose. The purpose of this study is to identify some features and circumstances typical of ET on the territory of Varna District. Material and methods. Forensic medicine documentation has been examined from 16780 autopsies for the period 1965-2005 performed at the Chair of Forensic Medicine and Deontology, the Medical University of Varna. The results have been processed by the statistical methods of alternative, variational and graphical analysis. Results. Over the 41-year-long period, a total of 280 ET autopsies have been performed, which accounts for 1.67% (Δ±D1, 5) of all autopsies. Lethal injuries by electric current typically occur in young age. Young males prevail. More than half of the events have been domestic ET. In the studied group, the number of accidents caused by high voltage is about the same as the number of accidents caused by low voltage. Suicide by electric current is relatively rare. A forensic medicine expert participated in 99 (62.26% Δ±D9.55) of the inspections on the scene of accident. Conclusions. ET affects mainly young males in domestic ET.
Scripta Scientifica Medica 2008; 40(2): 177-178.
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