Pediatr. praxi 2019; 20(2): 114-117 | DOI: 10.36290/ped.2019.024

Formic acid burns – two cases of terrible medication administration error

MUDr. Lucie Holická¹, MUDr. Štěpánka Dočekalová¹, MUDr. Radek Štichhauer, Ph.D.^1,3, MUDr. Pavel Rozsíval^2,3, MUDr. Lukáš Eimer^2,3, PharmDr. Petra Rozsívalová^4,5

¹ Oddělení dětské chirurgie a traumatologie, Fakultní nemocnice Hradec Králové

² Dětská klinika, Fakultní nemocnice Hradec Králové

³ LF UK v Hradci Králové

⁴ Nemocniční lékárna, Fakultní nemocnice Hradec Králové

⁵ Katedra sociální a klinické farmacie, Univerzita Karlova, Farmaceutická fakulta v Hradci Králové

Formic acid of 10–90% concentration has been used for its caustic effect as one of the methods of treatment of viral warts. Although
nowadays considered obsolete for the risk of irritant dermatitis, burns and necrosis followed by scarring, the topical treatment is
still being prescribed by dermatologists. The authors report two cases of burns in infants. The cause was common to both cases,
the unfortunate erroneous administration of topical solution orally. The patients suffered significant burns affecting the face,
neck, oral cavity and oesophagus. In both cases, the systemic effects of concentrated formic acid were expressed differently.

Keywords: formic acid, burns, erroneous handling of vials, stricture (stenosis) of oesophagus, colecalciferol

Published: April 23, 2019  Show citation