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Monday, December 13, 2010

White phosphorus burn




Photo: White phosphorus burn. Many lesions, with severe underlying destruction and necrosis in the right shoulder (A) and left leg (B). After 16 months of follow-up (C, D). Al Barqouni et al, 2010.


A Case Report  from Lancet medical journal details the horrific burns suffered by an 18-year-old male civilian during the Israeli attack on the occupied Palestinian territory during January 2009. The report is by Dr Loai Nabil Al Barqouni, Al Quds University, Abu-Deis, Jerusalem, oPt, and colleagues.


They conclude: "We cannot give an estimate of the number of such cases in our burns unit because it is in a war situation in which no formal recording was done; these burns are rarely encountered in practice and literature describing cases is limited. According to the UN Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, it is prohibited to make civilians the object of attack by incendiary weapons."

References:
1 Lisandro I. CBRNE—incendiary agents, white phosphorus. Aug 22, 2007. http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/833585-overview (accessed May 21, 2010).
2 Eldad A, Simon GA. The phosphorous burn—a preliminary comparative experimental study of various forms of treatment. Burns 1991; 17: 198–200.
3 Chou TD, Lee TW, Chen SL, et al. The management of white phosphorus burns. Burns 2001: 27: 492–97.
4 Davis KG. Acute management of white phosphorus burn. Mil Med 2002; 167: 83–84.


  • Read more in Lancet 


    • Photos and Source: http://australiansforpalestine.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/optcasereport.pdf 
    • References

      Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service. Toxicological Profile for White Phosphorus. 1997. [Full Text].

      Geehr EC, Salluzzo RF. Dermal injuries and burns from hazardous materials. In: Sullivan JB Jr,Krieger GR. Hazardous Materials Toxicology, Clinical Principles of Environmental Health. Williams and Wilkins; 1992:415-424.

      Harbison RD. Phosphorus. In: Harbison RD. Hamilton and Hardy's Industrial Toxicology. 5th ed. Mosby Yearbook; 1998:194-7.

      Konjoyan TR. White phosphorus burns: case report and literature review. Mil Med. Nov 1983;148(11):881-4. [Medline].

      Merrifield RB. The automatic synthesis of proteins. Sci Am. Mar 1968;218(3):56-62 passim. [Medline].

      Mozingo DW, Smith AA, McManus WF, Pruitt BA Jr, Mason AD Jr. Chemical burns. J Trauma. May 1988;28(5):642-7. [Medline].

      Obermer E. Phosphorus burns. Lancet. 1943;1:202.

      Pande TK, Pandey S. White phosphorus poisoning--explosive encounter. J Assoc Physicians India. Mar 2004;52:249-50. [Medline].

      Rabinowitch IM. Treatment of phosphorus burns. Can Med Assoc J. 1943;48:291-296.

      Summerlin WT, Walder AI, Moncrief JA. White phosphorus burns and massive hemolysis. J Trauma. May 1967;7(3):476-84. [Medline].