Chemical Debridement of a Dry Escar in a Pediatric Patient Resulting from an Electrical Burn on the Scalp

The primary objective of this research was to identify the debridement effect of a chemical product, Acetic Acid, applied to a dry eschar from a pediatric patient resulting from an electrical burn on the scalp, evaluating its effect at 24, 48, and 72 hours after application. The research was applied, quantitative, a clinical case study, with an experimental, quasi-experimental laboratory, and longitudinal design. Data were collected by the researchers through direct observation performed by the Pathological Anatomy team of the Coromoto Hospital in Maracaibo, Zulia State, Venezuela. The information was processed using a visual-descriptive qualitative analysis, supported by a chronological comparison of images and a description of the microscopic findings. The results obtained from the microscopic examination during the first 24 hours using the chemical product showed skin and subcutaneous tissue with an ulcer and dermo-epidermal sclerosis. At 48 hours, the skin showed an ulceronecrotic plaque, an absence of skin appendages with sclerosis of hair follicles, and at 72 hours, skin with severe dermo-epidermal sclerosis lined by a fibrin-leukocyte plaque. This allows us to conclude that the use of a chemical product (Acetic Acid) produces debridement in an eschar resulting from an electrical burn starting 24 hours after its application, increasing its effect at 72 hours.