title: Early intervention reduces morbidity in extravasation injuries from 'lighter fuel' injection.
abstract: Injection of 'lighter fuel' with suicidal intent is rare. Extravasation of the chemical may rarely cause systemic toxicity, but usually it results in extensive soft tissue damage. Such injuries when managed by the traditional expectant policy are associated with considerable morbidity. Early aggressive surgical management using 'saline flush out' limits the tissue damage by stopping the natural progression of the chemical mediated injury and the subsequent inflammatory response, thereby allowing better skin preservation and functional outcome in these cases. We report a case of 'lighter fuel' subcutaneous extravasation injury managed by 'saline flush out' technique soon after presentation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery and Molecular Oncology, Level 6, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 9SY, UK. m.a.thaha@dundee.ac.uk
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Thaha
authors.forename: T H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: McKinnell
authors.forename: K E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Graham
authors.forename: A N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Naasan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002057:Burns, Chemical / Q000523:psychology / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D005648:Fuel Oils / Q000633:toxicity*; D006801:Humans; D007267:Injections; D016728:Self-Injurious Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D013406:Suicide, Attempted / Q000523:psychology; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D005648:Fuel Oils