Abstract

Objective

Carbon Monoxide (CO) poisoning affects 50,000 per year in the United States alone. Mortality is approximately 3% and up to 40% of survivors suffer from permanent neurocognitive and affective deficits. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO2) has shown benefit on reducing the long-term neurological sequelae of CO poisoning but has not demonstrated improved survival. The objective of this study is to assess the efficacy of HBO2 for acute and long term mortality in CO poisoning using a large clinical databank.

Design

Retrospective analysis.

Setting

University of Pittsburgh Medical Center healthcare system (Pittsburgh, PA).

Patients

1,099 unique encounters of adult patients with CO poisoning.

Interventions

None.

Measurements and Main Results

Baseline demographics, laboratory values, hospital charge transactions, discharge disposition, and clinical information from charting were obtained from the electronic medical record. In propensity adjusted analysis, HBO2 was associated with a reduction in inpatient mortality (absolute risk reduction 2.1% [3.7% – 0.9%], P = 0.001) and a reduction in one-year mortality (absolute risk reduction 2.1% [3.8 – 0.4%], P = 0.013).

Conclusions

These data demonstrate that HBO2 is associated with reduced acute and reduced one-year mortality. Further studies are needed on the mortality effects of HBO2 in CO poisoning.

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