Human Amniotic Membrane Dressing for a Female Case With Chemo-thermal Facial Burns Caused by Lithium-ion Battery Explosion: A Case Report

Hojjati, Mehdi; Toofani, Sajjad; Sobhani, Samira; Abdollahi, Amirsaleh

doi:10.32598/JTRM.1.1025

Human Amniotic Membrane Dressing for a Female Case With Chemo-thermal Facial Burns Caused by Lithium-ion Battery Explosion: A Case Report

Document Type : Case Reports

Authors

Mehdi Hojjati ¹

Sajjad Toofani ²

Samira Sobhani ³

Amirsaleh Abdollahi ⁴

¹ Department of Burn Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.

² School of Medicine, North Khorasan University of Medical Sciences, Bojnurd, Iran.

³ Department of Anesthesiology, Faculty of Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.

⁴ Faculty of Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.

https://doi.org/10.32598/JTRM.1.1025

Abstract

ssobhani@mazums.ac.ir: Lithium-ion battery explosions can cause mixed thermal and chemical injury. Facial involvement is especially challenging because edema, ocular risk, pain, and scarring must be addressed simultaneously. Human amniotic membrane (hAM) is a biologic dressing with scaffold, anti-inflammatory, and epithelial-supporting properties, but its use after a smartphone battery explosion has rarely been described. This case report describes the use of hAM in a case of facial chemo-thermal burn after a smartphone battery explosion.
Case Presentation: The case was a 17-year-old girl who sustained superficial partial-thickness burns involving approximately 8% of total body surface area after a smartphone exploded during charging. Her face, anterior neck, and both hands had been affected. Marked facial and periorbital edema prompted intensive care monitoring for 48 hours. Ophthalmologic examination was normal. The wounds initially received topical mupirocin. After edema subsided and burn depth was reassessed, hAM dressing was applied. Near-complete epithelialization with mild residual erythema was observed within five days, with minimal pain and no ocular or functional complications.
Conclusion: This case suggests that hAM may be a useful temporary biologic dressing for selected partial-thickness facial burns caused by lithium-ion battery explosion.

Keywords

Amniotic membrane

Chemo-thermal burn

Lithium-ion battery

Facial burn

Wound healing

Case report