Symptoms of carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning are often vague, making it difficult for technicians to diagnose. The typical flu-like symptoms (headache, nausea) do not immediately create cause for alarm. Each year, however, more than 400 Americans die from CO poisoning while more than 4,000 are hospitalized, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Until recently, testing for CO poisoning involved drawing blood at regular intervals and waiting hours for results; this uncomfortable procedure was particularly difficult in cases involving children.
Now, through noninvasive patient monitors (Radical-7, Rad-87, Rad-57) from Masimo Corporation, clinicians can check for carbon monoxide, hemoglobin and methemoglobin levels in the blood instantly and without puncturing the skin. Masimo Rainbow SET Pulse CO-Oximetry is the only technology available to noninvasively measure multiple blood parameters that previously required invasive procedures.
A recent case involving a 3-1/2 year old and a 7-year-old rescued from a New York house fire illustrates the life-saving advantages of noninvasive CO testing. The children escaped the fire without any obvious injuries and exhibited no outward symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning when they were brought to the pediatric trauma center. But their soot-covered bodies alerted trauma physicians to the likelihood of smoke inhalation and CO poisoning.
“Drawing blood to test for the presence of CO poisoning would have further traumatized the young children,” said Thomas Crimi, MD, associate director of clinical research at Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY. Dr. Crimi used the Masimo Radical-7, which works by attaching a simple finger clip to the patient that is connected to the pulse CO-oximeter by a cable.
Masimo Pulse CO-Oximeters send light waves through the skin to measure the amount of oxygen and other constituents in the blood. The oximeter detects the slightest color changes of the blood, then quantifies the amount of the blood constituents. In Dr. Crimi’s case, the Masimo Radical-7 measured the children’s carboxyhemoglobin (SpCO) and results showed a high SpCO number, indicative of carbon monoxide poisoning. As a result of the noninvasive test, the children avoided a potentially deadly outcome. They were treated and fully recovered, then released to their family.
The noninvasive method not only made testing easier, it enabled doctors to act quickly in a situation that did not initially seem life-threatening. “The children looked better than they were,” said Crimi. “We avoided having to ‘wait and see’ whether or not the children were going to lapse into a more critical phase or begin to improve.”
Until Masimo came out with the hemoglobin testing, the only way to get carboxyhemoglobin and methemoglobin levels was to draw a blood sample and send it to the lab and wait for results, said Crimi.
CONNECT THE DOTS
Read more about Masimo‘s noninvasive technology and case studies for stories of others who benefited from noninvasive protocols. For additional information and ways to prevent CO poisoning, go to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) or the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
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