What Is a Fourth-Degree Burn?

Radiation burns are also called burns. They are a type of injury that are caused by excessive ionizing radiation in the body. Symptoms are similar to general burns, and are manifested by congestion, blisters, and ulcers, depending on the severity of the burn. In the application of radioactive energy, the safety protection system should be strictly observed to avoid the occurrence of radiation burns. The general treatment of burns is basically the same as the treatment of burns.

Radiation burn

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Radiation burns are also called burns. They are a type of injury that are caused by excessive ionizing radiation in the body. Symptoms are similar to general burns, and are manifested by congestion, blisters, and ulcers, depending on the severity of the burn. In the application of radioactive energy, the safety protection system should be strictly observed to avoid the occurrence of radiation burns. The general treatment of burns is basically the same as the treatment of burns.

nickname

Radiation burn

English name

radiation burn

Visiting department

dermatology

Common locations

skin

Common causes

Excessive ionizing radiation

Common symptoms

Hair removal reaction

Contagious

No infection

Radiation burns can be divided into 4 degrees according to their severity.

1 Radiation burn 1st degree

Hair removal reaction

The main organs that damage the skin are the hair follicles and sebaceous glands. Spotted pigmentation and scattered miliary hair follicle keratinizing papules first appeared in the exposed area, with the hair follicle as the center above the surface of the skin. The skin between these pimples is dry, slightly itchy, loose hair, and easily fall off. Hair loss generally begins 2 weeks after the irradiation and ends on the 3rd weekend, and the hair can be regenerated. If it does not grow within 6 months, it is a permanent hair loss.

The clinical symptoms of this degree of injury are slight, and the stage of the disease is not obvious, so some people do not include it in the category of radiation burn.

2 Radiation burn 2nd degree

Erythema response

There are obvious clinical stages of this degree of injury. A few hours after the irradiation, itching, pain, burning and slight edema existed locally, and congestive erythema with clear lines appeared. After 1 to 7 days, the erythema temporarily disappeared. This period is the early reaction period, and then enters the false healing period (latency period). The clinical symptoms disappear, but the local skin has dysfunction, which can last for about 3 weeks. 2 to 3 weeks or more after exposure, the above symptoms recur, especially the occurrence of persistent erythema, and the boundary is very clear. Hair loss occurred at the same time. People with this type of persistent erythema, regardless of the severity of the disease, usually enter the healing period after a period of about 70 days. During this period, they should effectively protect the skin and avoid exposure to sunlight. 60 to 70 days before the next course of treatment.

3 Radiation Burn 3rd Degree

Blisters reaction

The early response was similar to the second degree, but appeared early and severely. The leave recovery period cannot be longer than 2 weeks. After that, persistent erythema appeared, the local swelling was obvious, and the skin became red, gradually turning purple. Itching, severe pain, severe burning sensation, and reduced skin sensitivity. A few days later, blisters appeared in the erythema, starting as small blisters, and then fused into large blisters with pigmentation around them. Wounds are formed after blister ulceration. Nearby lymph nodes are swollen and tender. At this degree of damage, the lesions around the skin are also more serious. Hair loss can occur about 2 weeks after irradiation, and the sweat and sebaceous glands degenerate and shrink. If it hurts the fingernails, the gloss disappears, the appearance is rough, and there are cracks. After about 1 to 3 months, or longer, the recovery period begins, and the skin wounds can be healed subcutaneously, and some scars remain. Regenerative skin is thin, dry, and inelastic, often showing pigmentation and dilated capillaries. If the wound is infected secondaryly, it will not be easy to heal. New born skin can also fester again, making it more difficult to heal.

4 Radiation burn 4th degree

Ulcer response

Burning or numbness, pain, swelling, and early erythema were noticeably worsened locally after irradiation. The false healing period generally does not exceed 2 to 4 days. If the radiation dose is particularly large, there may be no false healing period. In the period of obvious symptoms, erythema reappears, often blue-purple, blister formation, tissue necrosis, and wound or ulcer appear. The ulcer is usually round and the perimeter is clear. The tissue is further necrotic, especially after concurrent infection and purulent infection. The surface of the ulcer is dirty, with little or no granulation formation. Significantly enlarged local lymph nodes. If it occurs in the extremities of the extremities, it can cause severe ischemic necrosis due to vascular disease and even dry gangrene. This ulcer-responsive radioactive burn is difficult to heal on its own, often months to years, or unhealed.

After the 3rd and 4th degree local skin radiation burns, they are often accompanied by systemic symptoms, including systemic reactions to radiation damage (especially those in large areas and whole body irradiation) and systemic reactions caused by local burn lesions. Even if the local lesion heals, after a few months or years, a late reaction may occur, which turns into chronic skin radiation damage.

Cure

1. Quickly get rid of the cause of injury

After a flame burn, you should leave the fire area quickly, and take off your clothes as soon as possible. After the fire, you can soak the burn (scald) in cold water for 0.5 to 1 hour to reduce the pain and damage. For those who are injured by heat, wound cooling therapy can be used. Keep warm when the weather is cold.

2. Patients with life-threatening injuries, such as major bleeding, asphyxia, open pneumothorax, acute poisoning, etc., should be promptly treated.

3. The emergency treatment of burn wounds shall not be specially treated, and no medicine shall be applied, especially colored external medicine such as gentian violet.

4. Those who are thirsty can take oral saline, but not drink it in large quantities to avoid vomiting. It is not advisable to drink plain water to prevent water poisoning. For patients with severe burns, intravenous infusion should be performed as soon as possible.

5. Record the patient's injuries, including preliminary estimates of burn area and depth, and on-site first aid measures for easy classification and reference during further treatment.

6.Transfer

For small and medium-sized burns, in principle, rescue should be organized in the vicinity to facilitate timely treatment and reduce pain. ^[1]