CLASSICS AND REVISITS IN SCIENTIFIC MEDICINE
CLASSICS AND REVISITS IN SCIENTIFIC HISTORY OF
MEDICINE SUPPLEMENT:UPDATAED EDITION 2024
PROF DOTT EMMANUEL UDEMEZUE ONYEKWELU
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE FROM ARCHIVAL RESEARCH:
Although electricity is a relatively recent invention, humans have always
been exposed to electrical injuries caused by lightning.
The catastrophic impact of the formidable effect of lightning was terrific and
horrific. Perceived as non-amenable to any form of therapeutic intervention,
it was accorded a punitive mystical origin and intent.
Mythologically, Zeus, the ruler of the ancient Hellenic gods, was symbolically
illustrated holding thunderbolts, which he used for cautionary and punitive
purposes for disobedience to his ordinances.
However, the invention and extensive employ of electricity in energy saving
rapid machineries, improved ergonomics and the domiciliary settings in the
mid-1800s some what partly demystified the mythological and diabolical
concepts overwhelming electrical prowess, whilst comtemperonously
introducing electrical injuries as a common problem at occupational or
domiciliary settings.
The first reported and documented electrical fatality was recorded in a
Parisian setting in 1879.The 1994 classics and eminent scholarships of
Bernstein chronicled and reviewed the historical aspects of electrical
injuries, it equally presented and discussed the electrical engineers
perspective on this theme and proffered a position statement. [1]
Classifications of electrical injuries generally focus on the power source
(lightning or electrical), voltage (high or low voltage), and the type of current
(alternating or direct), each of which is associated with certain injury patterns.
Two modalities of electrical current has been recognized, the alternating current
(AC) and the direct current (DC) .In the former, the electrons flow pattern is
usually bidirectional (backwards and forwards) through a conductor in a cyclic
pattern. This type of current is the most commonly used in households and
offices, and it is standardized to a frequency of about sixty cycles per second
(approximately sixty Hetz) in the later when the current is direct,(DC) the
electrons flow only forward (unidirectionally).
This pattern of current motion is produced by various batteries and is used in
certain medical equipment such as defibrillators, pacemakers, and electric
scalpels.
Although AC is considered to be a far more efficient way of generating and
distributing electricity, it is also more dangerous than DC (approximately three
times) because it causes tetanic muscle contractions that prolong the contact of
the victim with the source. In 1968, histriographic data on the pros and cons of
either forms of current source (AC versus DC) was proffered by Taussig in his
scholarship on the Death “from lightning and the possibility of living again. [2]
Whereas, Cooper presented and discussed the emergent care of lightning and
electrical injuries.in 1995. [3]
On the basis of their scholarship on the pathophysiology of
acute electric injuries of 1976 Hunt, Mason and Masterson et al.
proposed that nerves and blood vessels, are
the best conductors; the former because they are innately
designed to carry electrical currents and the later due to their
high water content.
It has been suggested that these properties create the path of
least resistance for current after it enters the body, thus
affecting primarily the nerves and blood vessels.
In reality it seems that internal tissues of the body act as a
single resistor and not as a compendium of multiple resistors
in themselves. [4]
And other previous reviews by -Stresser et al on .Lightning
injuries of 1977 exists. [5]
This article proffers an explanatory survey of the historical
aspects, demographics and pathophysiology, in addition to the
diagnostic and therapeutic aspects of electrical injuries caused
by manufactured electricity.

[1]-Bernstein T: Electrical injury: Electrical engineers
perspective and an historical review. Ann NY Acad Sci
1994; 720:1-10.

[2]-Taussig HB:”Death “from lightning and the possibility
of living again .Ann Intern Med 1968; 68:1345-1353.

[3]-Cooper MA: Emergent care of lightning and electrical
injuries.Semin Neurol 1995; 15:268-278.

[4]-Hunt JL, Mason AD, Jr, Masterson TS et al.The
pathophysiology of acute electric injuries.J Trauma 1976;
16:335-340.

[5]-Stresser EG et al.Lightning injuries.J Trauma
1977;17:315.