ABSTRACT
Essential to the diagnosis of inhalation injury and imperative to prognosis in the patient with pulmonary insult is an understanding of the basic mechanisms of smoke-induced pulmonary damage. Patients in both treatment groups had a similar incidence of pulmonary complications, pulmonary function deterioration, and overall mortality. The anatomical site of injury to the respiratory tract influences symptoms, clinical course, and the treatment of a burn patient. Both severity and the extent of pulmonary damage influence pulmonary function after inhalation injury. Inhalation injury with cutaneous burns reportedly increases fluid requirements during resuscitation and thus increases the risk of pulmonary edema during the first postburn week. A clinical presentation that may often alert the physician to the possibility of inhalation injury includes a history of injury in a closed environment, impaired alertness at the time of the accident, prolonged exposure to smoke, facial burns, hoarseness, carbonaceous sputum, and physical signs such as rales and wheezing on chest auscultation.
