Abstract

Background
Many of fire victims of large fires die from smoke inhalation injury. For this reason, it is important to diagnose and manage smoke inhalation injuries. The purposes of this study were to find effectiveness in use of chest x-ray and bronchoscopic examination in diagnosis and management of smoke inhalation injury. Method: We analyzed the case histories of victims of a large fire who visited the emergency department of Kyungpook National University Hospital from the day admission, February, 18, 2003 to the time of each patient’s discharge. Results: The results of this study showed that severity of chest x-rays at the day 2 of insult correlated with PaO2/FiO2 ratio, Pulmonary function tests. bronchoscopic exam and wash out, oxygen therapy, medications, etc. were effective in improving patient’s clinical course. Conclusions: Follow up chest x-ray can be helpful in classifying severity, diagnosing and managing smoke inhalation injured patients. In addition to other supportive care, bronchoscopic tracheal wash out technique could be useful in managing these patients.

• Keywords: Inhalation injury, Chest x-ray, Bronchoscopy