_Treatment._--Electrical burns are treated on the same lines as ordinary
burns, by thorough purification and the application of dry dressings,
with a view to avoiding the onset of moist gangrene. After granulations
have formed, skin-grafting is of value in hastening healing.
#Lightning-stroke.#--In a large proportion of cases lightning-stroke
proves instantly fatal. In non-fatal cases the patient suffers from a
profound degree of shock, and there may or may not be any external
evidence of injury. In the mildest cases red spots or wheals--closely
resembling those of urticaria--may appear on the body, but they usually
fade again in the course of twenty-four hours. Sometimes large patches
of skin are scorched or stained, the discoloured area showing an
arborescent appearance. In other cases the injured skin becomes dry and
glazed, resembling parchment. Appearances are occasionally met with
corresponding to those of a superficial burn produced by heat. The chief
difference from ordinary burns is the extreme slowness with which
healing takes place. Localised paralysis of groups of muscles, or even
of a whole limb, may follow any degree of lightning-stroke. Treatment is
mainly directed towards combating the shock, the surface-lesions being
treated on the same lines as ordinary burns.
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