LIMB DYSTONIA FOLLOWING ELECTRICAL INJURY

Electrical injuries of the extremities may cause paralysis, muscle atr ophy, sensory deficit, causalgia, and reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RS D). Limb dystonia has rarely been reported following electrical injury to an extremity, although it may result from cerebral hemisphere elec trical trauma. Following electrical injury to the upper extremity, thr ee patients developed limb dystonia accompanied by severe pain and sen sory symptoms in two patients and features of RSD in one patient. Two patients received botulinum toxin injections without functional benefi t. The mechanism of dystonia following peripheral trauma is unknown bu t may relate to reorganization of central synaptic connections, possib ly in the spinal cord.