[Fire-eaters, a breath-taking act?]

Burns due to fire-eating are relatively rare. In a short period (6 months) four patients (men aged 9, 22, 27, and 15) were sent to the Burns Centre of the Martini Hospital of Groningen, the Netherlands. They had used car petrol in stead of paraffin oil. Their burns were not very severe but they were hospitalized because of the risk of an inhalation injury, especially oedema of the glottis. Signs related to inhalation injury are: burned hairs of the nose, smut on the mucous membrane in the mouth and nose or in the sputum, hoarseness, increase of tachypnoea and dyspnoea. Burns in the face are suggestive of an inhalation injury, of which there are three forms: oedema of the glottis, tracheobronchitis, and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). The four patients did not develop inhalation injury and recovered completely.