HYPOCHLORITE SOLUTION AS A DECONTAMINANT IN SULFUR MUSTARD CONTAMINATED SKIN DEFECTS IN THE EUTHYMIC HAIRLESS GUINEA-PIG

Hypochlorite solutions are thought to be efficacious when used to topi cally decontaminate intact skin. However, few studies have examined th e efficacy of decontamination of chemically contaminated wounds. There fore, we compared the decontamination efficacy of sodium hypochlorite (0.5% and 2.5% solutions), calcium hypochlorite (0.5% and 2.5% solutio ns) and sterile water to untreated controls in wounds exposed to sulfu r mustard (HD). Anesthetized euthymic hairless guinea pigs (EHGP) (n=6 ) were exposed to 20 mg/kg (approximately 0.4 LD(50)) HD in a full-thi ckness 8 mm surgical biopsy skin defect (i.e., wound). Each animal was subsequently decontaminated, after a two-minute intra-wound exposure to liquid HD, with nothing or one of the decontamination solutions. De contamination efficacy was determined by the visual grading of the HD- traumatized wound lesion and by comparison of the expected HD-induced leukocyte suppression. Leukocyte suppression was inconsistent in all a nimals; therefore, the visual grading was the only viable evaluation m ethod. No significant differences were observed among wounds decontami nated with any of the solutions. However, the skin surrounding non-dec ontaminated (but exposed) control animals showed the least visual path ology. The lesions induced following decontamination are presumed to b e due to the mechanical flushing of HD onto the peri-lesional skin, or by chemical damage induced by the solution, or HD-solution interactio n. Further studies are required to best delineate the optimal decontam ination process for HD contaminated wounds.