A Next-Generation Friction Burn Caused by a Cordless Vacuum Cleaner

Abstract

Consumers today are increasingly using a new type of vacuum cleaner with a soft roller head. Among injuries from the use of household appliances, vacuum cleaner-related friction burns tend to be underestimated in their severity, compared to treadmill-related friction burns, which have been explored more extensively in literature. We present the case of a 17-month-old child with a whitish eschar on the volar side of her right fourth toe, which had been sucked into the rotating soft roller head of one of the new cordless vacuum cleaners. Initially, the wound resembled a simple abrasion, but it was whitish enough for us to suspect a full-thickness burn. We performed gauze rubbing for granulation with a biologic dressing material and basic fibroblast growth factor. The burn took more than 3 weeks to heal completely. It is essential to reappraise the severity of friction burns caused by the more recent vacuum cleaner models with powered rollers and to establish appropriate treatment protocols.