Injuria inhalatoria en pacientes quemados: Revisión

Abstract

Every year almost three thousand people get burned in Chile. In this group, about 40% of the critical burned patients also suffer inhalation injury. This number is expected to grow bigger among the adult population in the next few years. Inhalation injury significantly increases mortality in burned patients. The prevalence, pathophysiology, clinical characteristics, treatment, and prognosis of this pathology have not been incorporated in the undergraduate curses of Chilean medical schools. Therefore, this subject is pooly known by most of our physicians. Because this disease will be included in the explicit warranties health plan of the public health care system in Chile, we decide to write this review about this pathological condition