Chemical Burn due to Garlic: A Case Report

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Garlic (Garlic Allium sativum), throughout history, has long been used as a method to cure various diseases in different cultures. Although the intake or local application of garlic in order to treat skin disease and antibacterial effects is gradually increasing, its possible side effects cannot be neglected. As a chemical burn case due to local application of garlic has never been reported in Korea up to now, the following paper will present a case in which who suffered a partial layer second degree burn due to the local application of garlic. METHODS: A 53 year-old female patient was experiencing a partial layer second degree burn. The vesicobullous lesion was accompanied by erythema with a size of 20x7 cm and severe pain. Two days earlier, the patient spread ground garlics on her left arm and had wrapped it in order to remove the black spots. Unfortunately, due to her carelessness, the garlic had stayed there for 12 hours. She was treated with potadine soaked gauze every day. As soon as the erythema had worn out, she was treated by wet dressing using Hydrocolloid (Comfeel plus transplant dressing(R), Coloplast A/S and Denmark). RESULTS: Epithelialization of the injured area began from the 5th day since the burn. Complete epithelialization took seven days, and the outpatient's progress is currently being observed. CONCLUSION: Local application of garlic as a folk remedy is widely known, and the side effect such as contagious skin disease is also known to some extent. Patients today tend to rely more on organic remedies, let alone garlic. Moreover, they seek traditional methods or alternative medicine rather than conventional treatment. Thus, it is crucial to acknowledge the side effects of such folk remedies and to be aware whether they have been preceded.