I'm working on project to better understand comprehensive rehabilitative needs for people with a history of low-voltage electrical injury. Progressive cellular damage in low-voltage electrical injury sequelae isn't well understood. Providing rehabilitation options for clients with ongoing rehabilitation needs will improve quality of life.
Historically, research indicates that people with a history of electrical injury experience the initial injury and then a unique neurological/neuropsych sequelae (including muscle weakness, arrhythmia, tardive seizures, general motor dysregulation, channelopathies, brainstem dysfunction, cataracts and deficits in memory, executive functioning, visual perceptual, visual spatial, visual processing, auditory processing and sensory integration).
The constellation of electrical injury sequelae symptoms is vast. Presently there is limited information on comprehensive rehabilitative needs. This project is designed to fill a present gap in rehabilitative research to improve quality of life including academic and employment outcomes.
"The long-term sequelae of electrical injury are difficult to study. The strength of the literature is impaired by the necessity of retrospective methods and case studies that typically describe small cohorts. Despite these limitations, there are consistent reports of similar findings of late effects of electrical injury" (Wesner & Hickie, 2013).
"Most of the literature associates these long-term sequelae with a highly diffuse injury ... The appearance of these late consequences of electrical injury might be substantially delayed, with onset 1 to 5 or more years after the electrical injury." (Wesner & Hickie, 2013).
Wesner, M. L., & Hickie, J. (2013). Long-term sequelae of electrical injury. Canadian Family Physician, 59(September), 935–939.
Stockly, O. R., Wolfe, A. E., Espinoza, L. F., Simko, L. C., Kowalske, K., Carrougher, G. J., … Schneider, J. C. (2019). The impact of electrical injuries on long-term outcomes: A Burn Model System National Database study. Burns, 46(2), 352–359. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.burns.2019.07.030