Smoke inhalation injury.

Abstract

Smoke inhalation injury is a complex of disease processes best understood and treated when defined in terms of the time period after injury. The early phase (0 to 36 hrs) is characterized by diagnosis and treatment of carbon monoxide and cyanide toxicity and by management of early airways edema, bronchorrhea, and bronchoconstriction with aggressive pulmonary toilet. Between 1 and 5 days, the major characteristic is airways mucosal slough, tracheobronchitis, and increasing lung water and impaired gas exchange. Pulmonary toilet and infection control, as well as close management of fluid shifts, is the major treatment. With onset of the inflammation-infection phase, the risk of nosocomial pneumonia increases markedly, as does the impairment in lung function as a result of marked increase in oxygen consumption and CO2 production. Nutrition, stress modification, avoidance of muscle fatigue, and control of infection are the key treatment modalities.