Pulmonary pharmacology & therapeutics
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Pulm Pharmacol Ther · Dec 2009
Assessment of myocardial injury in the emergency department independently predicts the short-term poor outcome in patients with severe carbon monoxide poisoning receiving mechanical ventilation and hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
Patients with severe carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning are often prone to unconsciousness and respiratory distress and as a result will receive mechanical ventilation and hyperbaric oxygen (MV-HBO) therapy. Factors associated with poor outcome at discharge are less defined in this patient population. This study was conducted to identify the prognostic predictors of short-term poor outcome in severely CO-poisoned patients receiving MV-HBO therapy. ⋯ The results of this study indicate that myocardial injury assessed at ED arrival independently predicts the short-term poor outcome in severely CO-poisoned patients who receive MV-HBO therapy. Emergency physicians could use this objective marker to identify patients with an increased risk of poor outcome at discharge and refine the treatment protocol by shortening the time of patient transport and administering HBO therapy as soon as possible.