Revue De La Littérature Sur Les Brûlures Au Phosphore.

Abstract

Armenia and Azerbaijan fought between September and November 2020 in Nagorno-Karabagh. Several surgical missions were scheduled by Assistance Publique- Hôpitaux de Paris to help care for the warinjured Armenians. These missions included the evaluation of Armenian soldiers suspected of having been injured by phosphorus. Facing, during these missions, such infrequent burns, we were interested in their pathophysiology, care and complications. Repeated up-to-date information is necessary in order to better take care of phosphorus burns. Therefore, we conducted a literature review, using PubMed and the Mesh Terms "phosphorus" and "burns", without setting any date limit. The review acknowledges that phosphorus burns are deep, tend to spread and may be the cause of systemic toxicity including hypocalcaemia, which can lead to heart rate disturbance and even death. In the acute phase, burns should be extensively washed with normal saline or water before a mechanical decontamination. One should not use oily dressings, given the liposolubility of phosphorus. Subsequently, one or many debridements are necessary before starting wound coverage, for which any kind of plastic surgery may be used. Phosphorus burns are infrequent but serious. They mainly occur in warfare and should be known by any caregiver acting in this context.