Related Experiment Videos
[Isolated burns after white-spirit ingestion in attempted suicide]
J L Perrot1, B Tardy, C Barthélémy
1Service de Dermatologie, Hôpital Nord, CHU Saint-Etienne.
Introduction:
We report an unusual complications of prolonged contact with white spirit leading to caustic burns.
Case Report:
A 20-year-old patient was seen for caustic perianal burns several hours after ingesting one-half liter of white spirit in an attempted suicide. Motor diarrhoea also occurred quickly and a prolonged anal evacuation of white spirit. Complementary examinations did not reveal any lesions of the buccal, oesophageal, gastric or rectosigmoidal mucosa.
Discussion:
Necrosis of the skin due to prolonged contact with petrol products is well known. Usually due to the delapidating action of dissolved petrol products on the superficial hydrolipid film and subjacent cell membranes. The absence of digestive tract lesions could be explained by the rapid onset of motor diarrhoea which may have limited the time of contact and thus protected the digestive tract mucosa which has a high content of mucopoly-saccharides and a low lipid content.