Accidental Injection of Formalin: Case Report of Severe Negligence in Dental Office

Chemical Facial Cellulitis due to Inadvertent Injection of Formalin into Oral Tissue Space

“…Lian and Ngeow 8 (1998), Gupta et al 9 (2011), Arakeri and Brennan 5 (2012), Vaka et al 4 (2014), and Dandriyal et al (2014) 6 have reported similar cases of accidental administrations of formalin during dental procedures. 5 , 7 , 8 Though the extra-oral swelling in our case exceeded that described in any of these cases.…”

“…This was repeated several times and a corrugated rubber drain was left in situ after loose wound closure. Vaka RB et al 4 treated a similar condition by aspirating injected formalin through the buccal vestibular incision and placing a corrugated drain in situ. They supported the patient with systemic antibiotic and analgesic therapy, to ease the trauma.…”

“…2 There have been a few incidents of accidental injection of formalin in dental patients due to use of empty vials for storage of formalin which can be readily mistaken for local anesthesia solution. 3 , 4 The accidental administration of formalin in to facial tissue spaces may lead to chemical cellulitis over 24 h. Fatty infiltration with necrosis of the area involved and osteolytic changes have also been reported. 5 , 6 This paper reports adverse effects and management of inadvertent injection of 40 percent formalin in pterygomandibular space in an 8-year old child leading to chemical facial cellulitis.…”

Dental Negligence: Accidental Administration of Formalin Instead of Local Anesthetic

“…[5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] The search also shows up to 9 articles on the accidental injection of formalin as an anesthetic agent during dental treatment procedures. [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25] Formalin accidentally being used as an irrigant for rotary bur during bilateral surgical removal of 3 rd molar has also been documented. 26 All the articles show that once there is an inadvertent injection of formalin, incision at the site with saline lavage is performed followed by placement of a drain at the site.…”

“…Systemic antibiotics, steroids and analgesics are administered and is followed up as the treatment protocol. [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25] The same protocol was followed in the case presented here.…”