Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2014 Winter;22(4):264-6.
doi: 10.4172/plastic-surgery.1000893.

Third-degree burns caused by ignition of chlorhexidine: A case report and systematic review of the literature

Anthony Vo  1 , Omar Bengezi  2
Affiliations
Review

Third-degree burns caused by ignition of chlorhexidine: A case report and systematic review of the literature

Anthony Vo et al. Plast Surg (Oakv). 2014 Winter.

Abstract
in English, French

Ignition of chlorhexidine by an electrocautery unit is rare but can have devastating consequences for the patient and the surgeon. A case involving a 77-year-old man who underwent removal of an indwelling artificial urethral sphincter is presented. The chlorhexidine was ignited when the urologist activated the electrocautery unit, causing third-degree burns to the patient. A plastic surgeon treated the burns with surgical debridement and split-thickness skin grafting. A systematic review of the literature was performed with best practice recommendations. To the authors' knowledge, the present case is the ninth such case reported.

Il est rare que la chlorhexidine s’enflamme à cause d’un dispositif d’électrocautérisation, mais un tel incident peut avoir des conséquences dévastatrices, à la fois pour le patient et pour le chirurgien. Les auteurs présentent le cas d’un homme de 77 ans qui s’est fait enlever un sphincter urétral artificiel à demeure. La chlorhexidine s’est enflammée lorsque l’urologue a activé le dispositif d’électrocautérisation, ce qui a brûlé le patient au troisième degré. Un chirurgien plasticien a traité les brûlures par débridement chirurgical et greffe dermo-épidermique. Les auteurs ont effectué une analyse bibliographique et extrait les recommandations exemplaires. En autant qu’ils le sachent, le présent cas est le neuvième du genre à être déclaré.

Keywords: Burn; Chlorhexidine; Prevention; Surgical fire.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1)
Figure 1)
The surgical fire triangle depicting the three elements necessary for a fire
Figure 2)
Figure 2)
A Third-degree burns involving the gluteal areas four days after a surgical fire caused by the ignition of chlorhexidine by an electrocautery unit. B Ninety days after surgical debridement and split-thickness skin grafting
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Abdulrasheed I, Lawal A, Eneye A. Surgical fires An ongoing intra-operative challenge. Arch Int Surg. 2013;3:1–5.
    1. Podnos YD, Williams RA. Fires in the operating room. Bull Am Coll Surg. 1997;82 - PubMed
    1. Haith LR, Santavasi W, Shapiro TK, et al. Burn center management of operating room fire injuries. J Burn Care Res. 2012;33:649–53. - PubMed
    1. ERCI Institute The patient is on fire! A surgical fires primer. Guidance. 1992;21:19–34.
    1. Briscoe CE, Hill DW, Payne JP. Inflammable antiseptics and theatre fires. Br J Surg. 1976;63:981–3. - PubMed