ABC of burns: pathophysiology and types of burns

The first sentence of the section “Electrical injuries” in this article by Shehan Hettiaratchy and Peter Dziewulski (12 June, pp 1427-9) led one reader, a self confessed pedant, to contact us. He rightly objected to the use of the word electrocution (which appeared later too). According to Chambers 21st Century Dictionary, “to electrocute” means “to kill someone or something by electric shock.” The first sentence should probably more correctly read: “Some 3-4% of burn unit admissions are caused by electrical [not `electrocution'] injuries.” And for any other pedants out there, the phrase “are caused by” might be better replaced with “are the result of.”