EVALUATION OF INTRAVENOUS MAGNESIUM-SULFATE FOR THE TREATMENT OF HYDROFLUORIC-ACID BURNS

Hydrofluoric acid exposures to the skin can produce severe, progressiv e burns. Medical treatment of these burns is aimed at neutralizing the free fluoride ion, which is felt to be responsible for burn progressi on. Both calcium and magnesium will form complexes with free fluoride and have been used as topical or intradermal treatments in the past. T his study evaluated the efficacy of intravenous magnesium sulfate for the treatment of hydrofluoric acid burns and compared this treatment t o controls and burns treated with intradermal calcium gluconate in a r abbit model. Both treatments demonstrated a reduction in burn area ove r time, wound depth, healing time and final scar area compared to cont rols. The intravenous magnesium treatment showed trends toward improve d outcome compared to the intradermal calcium treatment in all paramet ers evaluated, but these differences did not reach statistical signifi cance. This investigation found intravenous magnesium to be an effecti ve method for treating hydrofluoric acid burns. Intravenous magnesium may have significant utility for treating hydrofluoric acid burns that are not amenable to current therapies.