The Mount Sinai Journal of Medicine

 

Volume 73 Number 7
November 2006		 back to contents
Managing the Blue Man: Multiple Traumas Involving a Paint-Carrying Truck 1052-1054
Asli Feride Kaptanoglu, M.D.1, Nazmiye Koyuncu, M.D.2, Evren Tayanc, M.D.3, and Ozgur Karcioglu, M.D.4

Departments of 1Dermatology, 2Emergency Medicine, and 3Ophtalmology, Bayindir Hospital, Ankara, Turkey; and Department of 4Emergency Medicine, Dokuz Eylul University, School of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey.

Address all correspondence to Ozgur Karcioglu, M.D., Dokuz Eylul University, School of Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine, 35340, Balcova, Izmir, Turkey; e-mail: ozgur.karcioglu@deu.edu.tr.

Accepted for publication May 2006.

Abstract

Introduction: This report describes the difficulty in evaluating a patient with multiple traumas because he was covered with paint poured from a truck in a car accident. Cleansing with paint thinner and isotonic saline solution was necessary.

Case Report: A 29-year-old male patient was admitted to the emergency department following the collision of his car with a paint-carrying truck. His head, face, neck and hands were covered with a cyan-blue oil paint, and bloody “paint mud” covered all frontal and occipital areas of the scalp. Abdominal guarding was identified. A rapid cleansing with normal saline solution (0.9% NaCl) was attempted in order to expose the lesions of the patient, but it had no effect on the drying paint. The patient’s scalp, face and neck were cleaned with paint thinner (60% toluene). The patient was then diagnosed as having a maxillofacial fracture and underwent surgery for open reduction and rigid fixation by plastic and reconstructive surgeons. Thinner was not used for the eyes for fear of further chemical injury. Normal saline removed corneal and conjunctival paint remnants but proved ineffective for cleansing of the eyelids and eyelashes.

Conclusion: Removal of the paint from the skin and the eyes was a prerequisite for the evaluation of the underlying structures. It is difficult to find a cleansing material that can be used effectively and safely in different parts of the body.

Key Words

Multiple traumas, accident, paint, skin cleansing, contaminated wound, eye wounds.

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