Burn Injury Due to Cyanoacrylate-Based Nail Glue: A Case Report and Literature Review

Cyanoacrylate is used in the manufacturing of surgical adhesives, nail glue, and super glue. After contact with cotton or wool, among other catalysts, an exothermic reaction is ignited, inflicting thermal damage to the skin underlying clothes. Nine papers have been published about such an incidence, majority of which involve children. This is the first paper that presents the case of such a burn condition in Saudi Arabia. A four-year-old girl suffered a mix of first- and second-degree burns due to cyanoacrylate spillage over the digits, anterior aspect of the right thigh, and a patch of the skin on the left upper abdomen, spanning 4% of the total body surface area. The clothes were forcefully removed by the mother, and shampoo was applied over the area. At the emergency department, irrigation with normal saline was performed followed by dressing with paraffin-impregnated gauzes and silver sulfadiazine. Volar slabs were placed on the hands. The dressing in the hands was later changed to fusidic acid as the burn healed. Silicone sheet dressing was initiated 28 days later after the burned skin had healed. At one-year follow-up, the wounds were fully healed with no abnormal scar formation. This paper aims to improve awareness about proper first-aid burn management, which determines the quality of the outcome. Further emphasis is required on providing a safe environment for the children and clear, comprehensible warning of hazards on the label of the cyanoacrylate based-products.