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

Home Treatment:

Seek immediate emergency medical care. Most of the symptoms listed result from breathing in (inhaling) the substance.

Move the person to fresh air. Be careful to avoid being overcome with the fumes while helping someone else.

Contact Poison Control for further information.

Before Calling Emergency:

Determine the following information:

The patient's age, weight, and condition
The name of the product (ingredients and strengths, if known)
The time it was swallowed or inhaled
The amount swallowed or inhaled

Poison Control, or a local emergency number:

The National Poison Control Center (1-800-222-1222) can be called from anywhere in the United States. This national hotline number will let you talk to experts in poisoning. They will give you further instructions.

This is a free and confidential service. All local poison control centers in the U.S. use this national number. You should call if you have any questions about poisoning or poison prevention. It does NOT need to be an emergency. You can call for any reason, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Take the container with you to the hospital, if possible.

See National Poison Control center.

What to expect at the emergency room:

The health care provider will measure and monitor the patient's vital signs, including temperature, pulse, breathing rate, and blood pressure. The patient may receive:

Fluids by IV
Medicines to treat symptoms
A nasogastric (NG) tube thru the nose into the stomach to empty the stomach (gastric lavage)
Medicines to treat an allergic reaction (diphenhydramine, epinephrine, or prednisone)
Endoscopy -- the placement of a camera down the throat to see the extent of burns to the esophagus and the stomach
Medicine (antidote) to reverse the effect of the poison
Irrigation (washing of the skin), perhaps every few hours for several days
Skin debridment (surgical removal of burned skin)
Breathing tube
Oxygen

Expectations (prognosis):

How well a patient does depends on the severity of the poisoning and how quickly medical help was received.

Severe lung damage may occur. Survival past 72 hours usually means the patient will have a complete recovery.

Long-term abusers of freon can have permanent brain damage and early death.

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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