Burn due to misuse of an acetylene gas burner: a case report

A rare case of deep penetrating burn injury caused by misuse of a high-pres sure acetylene burner is reported. A 35 year old man was admitted with seco nd and third degree burns involving the right arm cubital area and a subcut aneous burn an his right arm caused by a high-pressure acetylene gas flame. Early surgical debridement and secondary skin grafting using a preserved s ubcutaneous vascular network skin graft (PSVNSG) proved effective in this p atient. Skin contracture was prevented and function was recovered. The basi s of PSVNSG is that the vascular system existing in the graft is used as a permanent vascular system without degeneration. This case shows that, in th is kind of burn injury, subcutaneous tissue damage should be suspected and that it is important to perform surgical debridement early after admission. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd and ISBI. AII rights reserved.