THE DANGER OF LIQUID PETROLATUM IN PARENTERAL INJECTIONS

I wish first to touch on the injection of paraffin, a substance which, while not an oil, has a similar pathologic significance, besides being closely related chemically to liquid petrolatum. Furthermore, the more recent findings in connection with liquid petrolatum injections throw a side-light on the paraffin ones which justify this digression. PARAFFIN INJECTIONS Every medical man is by this time aware of the untoward effects which sometimes follow the injection of paraffin for cosmetic or other purposes; so much so, in fact, that the term paraffinoma now has a familiar ring, and that the use of this substance in plastic surgery has been almost abandoned. Davis 1 brings out that not every person thus treated develops a paraffinoma—that there must be a predisposition on the part of the patient; and, from this the final verdict for or against paraffin must depend on the frequency of the development of paraffinomas