What Researchers Did
Researchers analyzed the treatment of 141 patients with acute carbon monoxide poisoning, 31 of whom received extracorporeal blood oxygenation along with medical drug therapy.
What They Found
An immediate favourable effect was observed in the 31 severely comatose patients treated with extracorporeal blood oxygenation. However, 19 of these 31 patients (61.3%) later died due to subsequent complications, most frequently pneumonia and meningoencephalitis.
Canadian Relevance
This study covers carbon monoxide poisoning, a condition recognised by Health Canada for hyperbaric oxygen therapy. However, no direct Canadian connection or authors were identified.
Study Limitations
This study is a historical case series from 1976, lacking a comparative control group and focusing on a specific extracorporeal oxygenation method rather than standard hyperbaric oxygen therapy protocols.