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Severe frostbite caused by Freon gas
E E Wegener1, K R Barraza, S K Das
1Department of Surgery, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson 39216-4505.
Southern Medical Journal
|September 1, 1991
Abstract:
We have reported a case of severe frostbite due to direct exposure to liquid Freon gas (monochlorodifluoromethane), a fluorinated hydrocarbon widely used as refrigerants, propellants, and industrial solvents. The patient was treated for severe third- and fourth-degree frostbite to the hand. The severity of the injury was apparently the result of direct through-and-through injury from exposure to the liquid (boiling point -40.5 degrees C) and a possible systemic vasoconstrictive effect on arterial smooth muscle due to inhalation of Freon gas.