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Caustics

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Critical Care Toxicology

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Abstract

Caustic or corrosive substances take many forms, with varied concentrations, pH, and formulations. The intent behind the exposures is likewise diverse and ranges from the suicide attempt in an adult to an exploratory taste in a young child. The heterogeneous nature of the substances, patients, circumstances, clinical presentations, and spectrum of injury makes diagnosis and treatment a daunting task for the clinician.

This chapter is an update of the chapter on this topic by J. G. Rella and R. S. Hoffman in the first edition of this book.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. New Jersey Poison Information and Education System, Department of Emergency Medicine, New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences, Newark, NJ, USA

    Diane P. Calello

Authors
  1. Diane P. Calello
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Correspondence to Diane P. Calello .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Colorado School of Medicine, Toxicology Associates, Denver, Colorado, USA

    Jeffrey Brent

  2. Office of New Drugs Drug Evaluation and Research, FDA, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA

    Keith Burkhart

  3. Clinical Toxicology, St Thomas' Hospital, London, United Kingdom

    Paul Dargan

  4. University of Colorado School of Medicine, Toxicology Associates, Denver, Colorado, USA

    Benjamin Hatten

  5. Med & Toxicological Intensive Care Unit, Lariboisière Hospital Paris-Diderot University, Paris, France

    Bruno Megarbane

  6. University of Colorado School of Medicine, Toxicology Associates, Denver, Colorado, USA

    Robert Palmer

Grading System for Levels of Evidence Supporting Recommendations in Critical Care Toxicology, 2nd Edition

Grading System for Levels of Evidence Supporting Recommendations in Critical Care Toxicology, 2nd Edition

  1. I

    Evidence obtained from at least one properly randomized controlled trial.

  2. II-1

    Evidence obtained from well-designed controlled trials without randomization.

  3. II-2

    Evidence obtained from well-designed cohort or case-control analytic studies, preferably from more than one center or research group.

  4. II-3

    Evidence obtained from multiple time series with or without the intervention. Dramatic results in uncontrolled experiments (such as the results of the introduction of penicillin treatment in the 1940s) could also be regarded as this type of evidence.

  5. III

    Opinions of respected authorities, based on clinical experience, descriptive studies and case reports, or reports of expert committees.

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Calello, D.P. (2016). Caustics. In: Brent, J., Burkhart, K., Dargan, P., Hatten, B., Megarbane, B., Palmer, R. (eds) Critical Care Toxicology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20790-2_90-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20790-2_90-1

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