Pattern and seasonal variations in death due to electrocution: A retrospective study

Abstract

Background: Owing to extensive use of electricity in home and industries, electrocution injuries are one of the common causes of morbidity and mortality in India. Deaths due to fatal electric injuries are quite common in Rajasthan, and hence a retrospective study was conducted on the cases of death due to electrocution. Objectives: This study was carried out with the aim to find out the pattern and seasonal variations, and to discuss the medicolegal aspects of fatal electrocution. Materials andMethods: This retrospective study was conducted at Swai Man Singh Hospital, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. Total 3123 autopsies were conducted in the Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology during 2012; of them, 80 cases of death due to electrocution were analyzed. Results: In this study, majority of the victims were men (85%) aged between 20 and 50 years (75%). In 70% cases, victims were electrocuted at home and all cases (100%) were accidental in nature. In most of the victims, upper limbs (51.2%) were involved due to a contact with electric source followed by the cases where the body was showing signs of flame burns (65.0%) due to leaping of spark over the body. In this study, we observed that the incidences were typically higher in monsoon season (47.5%) as compared to other seasons, which shows that there is a characteristic seasonal variation in cases of electrocution. In 40% cases, the victims were brought dead. Conclusion: Electric injury varies from nil to severe destruction of tissues, so in all cases of death due to electrocution meticulous autopsy should be performed to help the investigations for the purpose of compensation and to plan future safety measures. Pattern of fatal electrocution injuries in this study is more or less similar to that observed in most of the other studies conducted by various authors and the incidences are typically higher in the rainy season.