Treatment of severe electrical burns of the genitalia and perineum by early excision and grafting.

A patient with severe electrical burns to his perineum and genitalia is presented. Evaluation of such patients necessarily includes local wound exploration, cystourethroscopy and proctoscopy. The principles of early serial debridement and wound closure were applied to all tissues including testis and penis. Removal of non-viable tissue and wound closure was accomplished by postburn day 10 without sacrifice of viable tissue and without wound sepsis. The benefits of early debridement and wound closure are reduction of infection, earlier onset of physiotherapy, quicker recovery of function, and shortened hospital stay.