Burns to hand

Case contributed by Rodney Strahan
Diagnosis certain

Presentation

Patient presented many days after burns to hand from lightning.

Patient Data

Age: 60 years
Gender: Female
x-ray

Bone loss in second and fifth fingers associated with soft tissue loss and bone protruding through the soft tissue. Fixed flexion of fourth finger.

Photo

Photograph of hand correlates with the x-ray images with bone protruding through the soft tissues in the second and fifth fingers. Skin changes from burns.

Case Discussion

Thermal burns from lightning are variable but in this case caused skin and muscle damage. Nerve destruction would also occur and thus the hand would be anaesthetized allowing painless injury to the hand to occur, such as in leprosy.  

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