

The clinical symptoms of acute carbon monoxide intoxication range from headache and dizziness to loss of orientation, symptoms of cardiac angina, loss of consciousness, and death.
#Symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning series#
Fatality depends on exposure times to CO and its concentrations and is crucially affected by the toxicity of further gases involved (comparative case series ). In 2015, 648 patients died as a result of CO poisoning (0.8 deaths/100 000 population) ( etable). In the USA, the total number of deaths due to CO poisoning fell between 19 (from 1967 cases to 1319 cases) ( e5), whereas in Germany, numbers have steadily risen in recent years. For Germany, the only available data are those from the German Federal Statistical Office, for inpatients and deaths with a diagnosis of CO intoxication (T58 in ICD-10) ( e4).
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Treatment for accidental carbon monoxide poisoning costs the US healthcare system some $1.3 billion every year ( e3). In the USA, 20 000–50 000 cases of carbon monoxide poisoning occur every year ( 2).
#Symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning portable#
Relevant alerting key words and the use of portable CO meters are intended to raise awareness in rescue personnel. In addition to fires, defect gas boilers, or wood pellet storage facilities, the risk of poisoning as a result of smoking hookah has become a focus in recent years ( 1, e2). It develops in incomplete combustion processes of substances containing carbon ( e1). Alternative or supplementary pharmacological treatments now exist only on an experimental basis.Ĭarbon monoxide (CO) at low concentrations is an odorless and colorless gas with a molecular weight that is similar to that of air. The state of the evidence on the diagnosis and treatment of this condition is not entirely clear. Smoke intoxication must be considered in the differential diagnosis. Therapeutic decision-making is directed toward the avoidance of sequelae such as cognitive dysfunction and cardiac complications, and the reduction of mortality.

At present, there is no general recommendation for HBOT, in view of the heterogeneous state of the evidence from multiple trials. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) should be critically considered and initiated within six hours in patients with neurologic deficits, unconsciousness, cardiac ischemia, pregnancy, and/or a very high COHb concentration. In patients with severe carbon monoxide poisoning, an ECG should be obtained and biomarkers for cardiac ischemia should be measured. In case of CO poisoning, the reduced oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood, impairment of the cellular respiratory chain, and immune-modulating processes can lead to tissue injury in the myocardium and brain even after lowering of the carboxyhemoglobin (COHb) concentration. The initiation of 100% oxygen breathing as early as possible is the most important treatment for carbon monoxide poisoning.
