Inhalation injury in the ICU

Author(s):  
Silvia Coppola ◽  
Franco Valenza

Inhalation injury represents one of the most serious associated injuries complicating the care of thermally-injured patient. It can result in severe respiratory failure and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) by three mechanisms—thermal or chemical injury, and impairment of systemic oxygen supply. Thermal injury can cause erythema, ulceration, and progressive, life-threatening oedema, particularly of the upper airways. Chemical injury is due to irritants or cytotoxic compounds, and depends on the material burned, the temperature of the fire, and the amount of oxygen present in the fire environment. It is responsible for irritation, ulceration, and oedema of the mucosal surface, and the initiation of a lung inflammatory reaction when small particles reach the alveoli. Moreover, the increased vascular permeability, and the reduced surfactant production carry a significant risk in the development of pneumonia and ARDS. Bronchospasm and upper airway oedema can occur rapidly, while lower airway oedema can be asymptomatic for up to 24 hours. Lung imaging techniques may not reveal injured areas for the first 24–48 hours. Fibre optic bronchoscopy is considered to be the most direct diagnostic method for the definitive diagnosis of inhalation injury. The patient management includes airways assessment, adequate fluid resuscitation, and mechanical ventilation when required. All victims of smoke inhalation should be always evaluated for cyanide and carbon monoxide poisoning.

1992 ◽  
Vol 73 (4) ◽  
pp. 1608-1613 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. J. Xu ◽  
S. Sapienza ◽  
T. Du ◽  
S. Waserman ◽  
J. G. Martin

The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationships between upper airways responses and pulmonary responses of two strains of highly inbred rats to inhaled antigen. To do this we measured the upper and lower airways resistance for 60 min after challenge of Brown-Norway rats (BN; n = 13) and an inbred rat strain (MF; n = 11), derived from Sprague-Dawley, with aerosolized ovalbumin (OA). Rats were actively sensitized with OA (1 mg sc) using Bordetella pertussis as an adjuvant. Two weeks later the animals were anesthetized and challenged. Tracheal pressure, esophageal pressure, and airflow were measured, from which total pulmonary resistance was partitioned into upper airway and lower pulmonary resistance (RL). The peak upper airway response to inhaled OA was similar in BN (1.89 +/- 0.66 cmH2O.ml-1.s; n = 7) and MF (2.85 +/- 0.68 cmH2O.ml-1.s; n = 6). The lower airway response to OA challenge was substantially greater in BN, and RL changed from 0.07 +/- 0.01 to 0.34 +/- 0.13 (n = 6; P < 0.05). The MF did not have any significant increase in RL after challenge; the baseline RL was 0.12 +/- 0.02 and only reached a peak value of 0.15 +/- 0.05 (n = 5; P = NS). Lower airway responsiveness of BN (n = 10) to serotonin, an important mediator early allergic airway responses, was similar to MF (n = 7).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Mosier ◽  
Nicole S. Gibran

Optimal care of the burn patient requires not only specialized equipment but also, more importantly, a team of dedicated surgeons, nurses, therapists, nutritionists, pharmacists, social workers, psychologists, and operating room staff. Burn care was one of the first specialties to adopt a multidisciplinary approach, and over the past 30 years, burn centers have decreased burn mortality by coordinating prehospital patient management, resuscitation methods, and surgical and critical care of patients with major burns. This review covers where to treat burn patients, fluid management, airway management, temperature regulation, airway control, nutrition, anemia, pain management, deep vein thrombosis prophylaxis, and putting it all together: an algorithmic approach to early care of the burn-injured patient. Figures show that the size of a burn can be estimated by means of the Rule of Nines, which assigns percentages of total body surface to the head, the extremities, and the front and back of the torso, the approach to the burn patient in the first 24 hours, and the approach to the burn patient during the second to fifth days after burn injury. Tables list American Burn Association criteria for burn injuries that warrant referral to a burn unit, criteria for outpatient management of burn patients, acute physiologic changes during burn resuscitation, acute biochemical and hematologic changes during burn resuscitation, measures of pulmonary function, mechanisms of pulmonary dysfunction and indications for mechanical ventilation, clinical manifestations of carbon monoxide poisoning, half-life of carbon monoxide–hemoglobin bonds with inhalation therapy, increased acute kidney injury in patients treated with hydroxocobalamin for suspected inhalation injury, clinical findings associated with specific inhaled products of combustion, bronchoscopic criteria used to grade inhalation injury, and formulas for estimating caloric needs in burn patients. This review contains 3 highly rendered figures, 12 tables, and 134 references


1990 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 535-542 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen A. Fitzgerald ◽  
Evelyn Gonzales McLaughlin

Inhalation injuries comprise three distinct clinical entities that may be classified according to the time of onset of symptoms, etiologic agents, and the anatomic location of injury. These entities are carbon monoxide toxicity, upper airway obstruction, and smoke inhalation or chemical injury. Each has a distinct pathophysiology, clinical manifestations, treatment, and prognosis. The emergency management of inhalation injury is frequently based on the health professional’s degree of suspicion despite the availability of sophisticated diagnostic tests. Early aggressive treatment, including maintaining a patent airway, administering humidified oxygen and bronchodilators, and providing pulmonary toilet, is necessary to ensure the best possible outcome. Understanding the pathophysiology, clinical manifestations, diagnosis, medical management, and nursing implications of inhalation injuries can improve patient survival


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Mosier ◽  
Nicole S. Gibran

Optimal care of the burn patient requires not only specialized equipment but also, more importantly, a team of dedicated surgeons, nurses, therapists, nutritionists, pharmacists, social workers, psychologists, and operating room staff. Burn care was one of the first specialties to adopt a multidisciplinary approach, and over the past 30 years, burn centers have decreased burn mortality by coordinating prehospital patient management, resuscitation methods, and surgical and critical care of patients with major burns. This review covers where to treat burn patients, fluid management, airway management, temperature regulation, airway control, nutrition, anemia, pain management, deep vein thrombosis prophylaxis, and putting it all together: an algorithmic approach to early care of the burn-injured patient. Figures show that the size of a burn can be estimated by means of the Rule of Nines, which assigns percentages of total body surface to the head, the extremities, and the front and back of the torso, the approach to the burn patient in the first 24 hours, and the approach to the burn patient during the second to fifth days after burn injury. Tables list American Burn Association criteria for burn injuries that warrant referral to a burn unit, criteria for outpatient management of burn patients, acute physiologic changes during burn resuscitation, acute biochemical and hematologic changes during burn resuscitation, measures of pulmonary function, mechanisms of pulmonary dysfunction and indications for mechanical ventilation, clinical manifestations of carbon monoxide poisoning, half-life of carbon monoxide–hemoglobin bonds with inhalation therapy, increased acute kidney injury in patients treated with hydroxocobalamin for suspected inhalation injury, clinical findings associated with specific inhaled products of combustion, bronchoscopic criteria used to grade inhalation injury, and formulas for estimating caloric needs in burn patients. This review contains 3 highly rendered figures, 12 tables, and 134 references


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Madhu Subramanian ◽  
Erica I Hodgman ◽  
Steven E Wolf

Among those who have been burned in fires, inhalation injury is common from high-temperature air in the upper airway and inhaled toxins in smoke, causing metabolic poisoning and chemical burns in the trachea and lower airways. The diagnosis of inhalation injury is difficult as it is often based on qualitative measures in the history and physical examination, although measurement of carboxyhemoglobin and untoward acidosis are effective indirect measures. The use of CT for diagnosis is also playing a greater role. Treatment is generally supportive with airway and ventilator support, including the use of volumetric diffuse respiration and occasionally hydrogen cyanide antidotes. Inhalation injury is contributory to morbidity and mortality in the severely burned but is often a signal of the severity of the burns as well. This review discusses the pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment of inhalation injury, with an emphasis on potential complications.    This review contains 1 figure, 4 tables and 159 references Key words: airway pressure release ventilation, bronchodilator therapy, carbon monoxide poisoning, cyanide poisoning, inhalation injury


2001 ◽  
Vol 117 (6) ◽  
pp. 573-582 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuanlin Song ◽  
Sujatha Jayaraman ◽  
Baoxue Yang ◽  
Michael A. Matthay ◽  
A.S. Verkman

Several aquaporin-type water channels are expressed in mammalian airways and lung: AQP1 in microvascular endothelia, AQP3 in upper airway epithelia, AQP4 in upper and lower airway epithelia, and AQP5 in alveolar epithelia. Novel quantitative methods were developed to compare airway fluid transport–related functions in wild-type mice and knockout mice deficient in these aquaporins. Lower airway humidification, measured from the moisture content of expired air during mechanical ventilation with dry air through a tracheotomy, was 54–56% efficient in wild-type mice, and reduced by only 3–4% in AQP1/AQP5 or AQP3/AQP4 double knockout mice. Upper airway humidification, measured from the moisture gained by dry air passed through the upper airways in mice breathing through a tracheotomy, decreased from 91 to 50% with increasing ventilation from 20 to 220 ml/min, and reduced by 3–5% in AQP3/AQP4 knockout mice. The depth and salt concentration of the airway surface liquid in trachea was measured in vivo using fluorescent probes and confocal and ratio imaging microscopy. Airway surface liquid depth was 45 ± 5 μm and [Na+] was 115 ± 4 mM in wild-type mice, and not significantly different in AQP3/AQP4 knockout mice. Osmotic water permeability in upper airways, measured by an in vivo instillation/sample method, was reduced by ∼40% by AQP3/AQP4 deletion. In doing these measurements, we discovered a novel amiloride-sensitive isosmolar fluid absorption process in upper airways (13% in 5 min) that was not affected by aquaporin deletion. These results establish the fluid transporting properties of mouse airways, and indicate that aquaporins play at most a minor role in airway humidification, ASL hydration, and isosmolar fluid absorption.


Author(s):  
David Warburton

Branching is an intrinsic property of respiratory epithelium that can be induced and modified by signals emerging from the mesenchyme. However, during stereotypic branching morphogenesis of the airway, the relatively thick upper respiratory epithelium extrudes through a mesenchymal orifice to form a new branch, whereas during alveologenesis the relatively thin lower respiratory epithelium extrudes to form sacs or bubbles. Thus, both branching morphogenesis of the upper airway and alveolarization in the lower airway seem to rely on the same fundamental physical process: epithelial extrusion through an orifice. Here I propose that it is the orientation and relative stiffness of the orifice boundary that determines the stereotypy of upper airway branching as well as the orientation of individual alveolar components of the gas exchange surface. The previously accepted dogma of the process of alveologenesis, largely based on 2D microscopy, is that alveoli arise by erection of finger-like interalveolar septae to form septal clefts that subdivide pre-existing saccules, a process for which the contractile properties of specialized alveolar myofibroblasts are necessary. Here I suggest that airway tip splitting and stereotypical side domain branching are actually conserved processes, but modified somewhat by evolution to achieve both airway tip splitting and side branching of the upper airway epithelium, as well as alveologenesis. Viewed in 3D it is clear that alveolar “septal tips” are in fact ring or purse string structures containing elastin and collagen that only appear as finger like projections in cross section. Therefore, I propose that airway branch orifices as well as alveolar mouth rings serve to delineate and stabilize the budding of both airway and alveolar epithelium, from the tips and sides of upper airways as well as from the sides and tips of alveolar ducts. Certainly, in the case of alveoli arising laterally and with radial symmetry from the sides of alveolar ducts, the mouth of each alveolus remains within the plane of the side of the ductal lumen. This suggests that the thin epithelium lining these lateral alveolar duct buds may extrude or “pop out” from the duct lumen through rings rather like soap or gum bubbles, whereas the thicker upper airway epithelium extrudes through a ring like toothpaste from a tube to form a new branch.


2013 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 373-381 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Carolina Pecanha Antonio ◽  
Priscylla Souza Castro ◽  
Luiz Octavio Freire

In view of the tragic fire at a nightclub in the city of Santa Maria, Brazil, which culminated in the sudden death of 232 young people, we decided to review the literature regarding smoke inhalation injury caused by enclosed-space fires, which can be divided into direct thermal damage, carbon monoxide poisoning, and cyanide poisoning. Such injuries often call for immediate orotracheal intubation, either due to acute airway obstruction or due to a reduced level of consciousness. The diagnosis and the severity of the thermal injury can be determined by fiberoptic bronchoscopy. The levels of gases and gas by-products in the bloodstream should be assessed as rapidly as possible, even while still at the scene of the incident. First responders can also treat carbon monoxide poisoning, with immediate administration of oxygen at 100%, as well as cyanide poisoning, with oxygen therapy and hydroxocobalamin injection


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