Caustic ingestions

Dalia Adukauskienė, Sandra Mažeikienė¹, Arvydas Rumba, Venta Vizgirdaitė¹

Department of Intensive Care, Kaunas University of Medicine, ¹Kaunas University of Medicine, Lithuania

Key words: caustic substances; diagnosis; treatment; prophylaxis.

Summary. Caustic ingestions (alkalis, acids) may cause severe chemical burns and lifelong complications, which worsen life quality. Approximately 80% of caustic ingestions occur in children. They mostly intoxicate because of chemical substances kept insecurely or in inappropriate containers. Until now, there is no general opinion about diagnostics and management of caustic ingestions. Therefore, the main aim of this article is accurately represent diagnostic and treatment options believing that this information would help physicians to diagnose caustic ingestions easier and faster, to provide emergency management correctly, and to avoid acute and chronic complications.

Correspondence to S. Mažeikienė, Department of Intensive Care, Kaunas University of Medicine, Eivenių 2, 50009 Kaunas, Lithuania. E-mail: s.mazeikiene@gmail.com

Received 25 July 2008, accepted 6 September 2009