Open AccessWhat is Clinical Smoke Poisoning
Author(s) -
Bashir Zikria,
Daniel C. Budd,
F Floch,
José M. Ferrer
Publication year - 1975
Publication title -
annals of surgery
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.153
H-Index - 309
eISSN - 1528-1140
pISSN - 0003-4932
DOI - 10.1097/00000658-197502000-00004
Subject(s) - medicine , smoke , medical emergency , suicide prevention , poison control , human factors and ergonomics , waste management , engineering
In this 13-year study, 51 patients were admitted with the primary diagnosis of "smoke poisoning" "carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning" or "respiratory burns." Forty patients (78%) had diagnosis of smoke poisoning with minor or no skin burns. The study indicated that clinical diagnosis of CO poisoning cannot be made reliably without carboxyhemoglobin (COHg) determination and that smoke poisoning patients often had CO poisoning. Seventeen of 19 smoke poisoning patients (89%) had CO poisoning above COHb levels of 15% saturation. Carbon monoxide was successfully removed from the blood by improving alveolar ventilation and oxygen concentration. However, there were 2 smoke poisoning deaths as the result of gaseous chemical injury. There was a correlation coefficient of 0.87 between initial COHg levels and patients' hospital days primarily determined by patients' pulmonary complications. Since CO is non-irritating, COHb levels may be used as an additional indicator of suspected pulmonary injury by noxious combustion gases.