| 摘要 |
Hydrofluoric acid (HF) is one of the strongest inorganic acids with very corrosive nature bringing about unusual biologic consequences. It has been used widely in industry for a long period of time. HF is used increasingly in our domestic applications such as rust-removing. If HF burns of the hands are misdiagnosed and managed as other inorganic acid burns, the mor-bidity and mortality will increase. The clinical manifestations of HF burns are intense pain, swelling, tough coagulation and blister formation. It is important to keep in mind that these symptoms may not appear until a few hours later. The HF acid can cause not only chemical burn, but also elec-trolyte imbalance. If appropriate and adequate treatment is not instituted promptly, tissue damage may progress for a long period of time and the patient may sustain permanent injury or even death. Prevention is better than treatment. Education and warning to the workers and users to handle this hazardous material carefully and properly can serve to avoid accidents of HF burn. However, once a disastrous accident of this kind occurs, prompt water irrigation is the first aid treatment. Additionally, appropriate treatment such as topical application of calcium gluconate solution or gel should be performed rapidly to prevent the progression of chemical burns
and to avoid systemic toxicity of HE. If full-thickness burns of hands occur,
debridement, skin grafting or even local flap coverage may be necessary to reconstruct the contour and function of the hands. From 1990 to 1995, we treated six patients with HF burns of hands. The management of these HF burns was reviewed and discussed. |
