A new device for spraying commercially available freon 114 (dichlorotetrafluoroethane).

Abstract

With the introduction of the refrigeration technique in abrasive surgery it became obvious that there were some disadvantages in the use of ethyl chloride. Although it was efficient and inexpensive, it required a blower to hasten its evaporation; it was inherently toxic, and could be, at least on a theoretic scale, dangerous because of its toxicity and because of its flammability. Therefore, as soon as the operation became more commonly employed, there was immediate interest in a substitute refrigerant which would erase these objections. Freon 114 (dichlorotetrafluoroethane) was then introduced * and made available in metal canisters which were equipped with spraying valves. Dichlorotetrafluoroethane is a gas of relatively low pressure and moderate boiling point which can, when sprayed on the skin, freeze it into the degree of hardness which is essential to this new method of abrasive surgery. In the form in which it is made available it