Propane-induced tissue damage: burn or freezing injury?

Tissue damage due to direct contact of liquid propane with the integument i s extremely rare. Only five such cases have been described in the literatur e. We report the case of a girt who sustained a full-thickness skin necrosi s of 14.5 % of her body surface area. There is little agreement about the o ptimal treatment of these injuries in previous reports. The pathophysiologi cal mechanism suggests a freezing injury. The treatment, however, should be analogous to that of third-degree bums.