Emergency War Surgery NATO Handbook: Part I: Types of Wounds and Injuries: Chapter III: Burn Injury

Vesicant Gases

United States Department of Defense

Patients with cutaneous injuries due to vesicant gases are treated as are patients with other chemical injuries by personnel appropriately protected from the gaseous agent. All contaminated clothing must be removed and all skin exposed to the agent immediately ravaged with copious amounts of water. Vesicles should be debrided while being ravaged during the cleansing procedure to prevent injury to contiguous areas by serous vesicle fluid containing the vesicant. Subsequent treatment of the cutaneous injury is as for any burn, with emphasis placed on prevention of infection by the use of topical chemotherapy. Inhalation injury can also be produced by vesicant gases, and the previously described endoscopic examination of the airway should be carried out in such patients to determine the need for tracheal intubation and mechanical ventilatory support.

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Operational Medicine 2001

Health Care in Military Settings

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