Alkaline chemical burn to the face requiring full-thickness skin grafting.
A case of a patient with an alkaline chemical burn to the face from the misuse of the aerosol form of an oven cleaner is presented. The low concentration of sodium hydroxide and lack of early pain delayed the patient's presentation to the emergency department for two hours. After this delay in seeking treatment, continuous irrigation in the ED did little to modify the pH of the patient's injured skin. Thus, she developed a full-thickness alkaline burn that eventually required skin grafting.
Lorette
J J
JJ
Department of Emergency Medicine, Tripler Army Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawaii 96859.
Wilkinson
J A
JA
D000061:Accidents, Home; D000328:Adult; D002057:Burns, Chemical / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D003646:Debridement; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005151:Facial Injuries / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006795:Household Products; D006801:Humans; D016038:Skin Transplantation; D012972:Sodium Hydroxide; D007507:Therapeutic Irrigation; D013997:Time Factors
D012972:Sodium Hydroxide