Local application of aluminum foil and other substances in burn therapy

1. 1. Aluminum foil as a dry sterile initial covering for thermal burns under occlusive pressure dressings has been presented as a method of diminishing the maceration of a burn surface. The method appeared to influence favorably the local result by elimination of the use of ointments and by facilitating the dispersion of exudate to the periphery of the burn. No evidence of toxicity as a result of the treatment was found. The systemic reaction was, if anything, less obvious. 2. 2. Titanium dioxide exposure cream as a burn ointment was considered to be irritating from the evidence of production of pain, delay in healing and possible destruction of epithelial remnants. 3. 3. Massive doses of ascorbic acid administered to burn patients quickly corrected the state of ascorbic acid depletion, but the general systemic reaction to thermal burns was not found to be influenced by this form of treatment and the general signs of illness were marked in severe cases. 4. 4. Blood glutathione levels were not found to be influenced by thermal burns within the limits of the method of determination employed and bore no consistent relationship to changes in serum ascorbic acid levels.