This is an infiltration of an intravenous medication in the hand of a premature baby who was having difficulty breathing. and had low blood sugar. The high concentration of glucose had damaged the vein and added damage was done by the antibiotics given intravenously, but which now leaked out into the tissues. The hand needed debriding, but the baby was not fit for anaesthetic. A dressing made up of a mixture of activated charcoal and honey was applied between two layers of gauze, and changed every second or third day.
This is the same wound three weeks later. The desloughing was achieved by action of the honey, while the charcoal infused oxygen into the wound from the molecules of oxygen trapped in the microcrevices on the surfaces of the charcoal particles. Honey also has a disinfecting effect, thus keeping the wound clean.
Ten days later, the wound was almost totally closed - no skin graft needed. . .
