Xenon-133 determination of muscle blood flow in electrical injury.

Xe-133 washout determination of muscle blood flow (MBF) was used to detect muscle ischemia in electrical injury of an experimental animal model and three patients. The control MBF of rabbit hindlimbs, which averaged 11.29 +/- 1.07 cc/min/100 gm, was significantly reduced by electrical injury, to 5.82 +/- 1.49 cc/min/100 gm (p less than 0.001). An electrical injury of 4,000 watt-seconds or greater was associated with uniform MBF less than 1.00 cc/min/100 gm and with histopathologic alterations of muscle necrosis. Thenar MBF less than 1.00 cc/min/100 gm in two patients was associated with muscle necrosis requiring distal arm amputation. The remaining patient with sequential muscle blood flows above this level had uneventful healing of hand electrical injuries. Xe-133 determination of MBF may be a useful objective technique to determine the extent of electrical injury in muscle.