Intoxication au monoxyde de carbone

Cited indications for hyperbaric oxygen therapy include loss of consciousness, ischemic cardiac changes, neurological deficits, significant metabolic acidosis, or carboxyhemoglobin level greater than 25%. A carboxyhemoglobin level of 50% is critical and needs to be reduced as quickly as possible. Breathing 100% oxygen at normal atmospheric pressure, this patient will clear the carboxyhemoglobin with a half-life of 90 minutes, but hyperbaric oxygen therapy will lower the half-life to 30 minutes. Also, there is considerable risk of delayed neurocognitive impairment following a severe exposure such as this, and hyperbaric oxygen is believed to lower the risk of this long-term complication, although the strength of this evidence is disputed.