Refrigerant poisoning

Injury	Disease	Nutrition	Poison

Symptoms	Surgery	Test	Special Topic

Overview

Symptoms

Treatment

Refrigerant poisoning

Alternative Names:

Coolant poisoning; Freon poisoning; Fluorinated hydrocarbon poisoning; Sudden sniffing death syndrome

Symptoms:

Lungs
- Breathing difficulty (from inhalation)
- Throat swelling (which may also cause breathing difficulty)
Eyes, ears, nose, and throat
- Severe pain in the throat
- Severe pain or burning in the nose, eyes, ears, lips, or tongue
- Loss of vision
Gastrointestinal
- Severe abdominal pain
- Vomiting
- Burns of the esophagus (food pipe)
- Vomiting blood
- Blood in the stool
Heart and blood vessels
- Ventricular fibrillation and death (suden sniffing death syndrome)
- Collapse
Skin
- Irritation
- Burn
- Necrosis (holes) in the skin or underlying tissues

Review Date: 2/28/2006
Reviewed By: Eric Perez, MD, Department of Emergency Medicine, St. Luke's-RooseveltHospital Center, New York, NY. Review provided by VeriMed HealthcareNetwork.

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