[When necrosis smells of heating oil... what damage fuels can do]

The subcutaneous injection of heating oil or other crude oil distillates are rare injuries. In the present case, a 26-year-old man injected heating oil subcutaneously into the left cubital region. He then developed massive swelling, pain, local necrosis and abscess, accompanied by fever and leukocytosis. Radical surgical debridement and open wound treatment successfully stopped the necrotic process. Subsequently, a mesh-graft was applied to the wound, which healed with no residual defects. The course of the present case, and the results of a review of the literature on similar occurrences involving mineral oil suggest early extensive debridement of such injuries.