Logo

Log In Sign Up |  An official publication of: American College of Emergency Physicians
Navigation
  • Home
  • Multimedia
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
  • Clinical
    • Airway Managment
    • Case Reports
    • Critical Care
    • Guidelines
    • Imaging & Ultrasound
    • Pain & Palliative Care
    • Pediatrics
    • Resuscitation
    • Trauma & Injury
  • Resource Centers
    • mTBI Resource Center
  • Career
    • Practice Management
      • Benchmarking
      • Reimbursement & Coding
      • Care Team
      • Legal
      • Operations
      • Quality & Safety
    • Awards
    • Certification
    • Compensation
    • Early Career
    • Education
    • Leadership
    • Profiles
    • Retirement
    • Work-Life Balance
  • Columns
    • ACEP4U
    • Airway
    • Benchmarking
    • Brief19
    • By the Numbers
    • Coding Wizard
    • EM Cases
    • End of the Rainbow
    • Equity Equation
    • FACEPs in the Crowd
    • Forensic Facts
    • From the College
    • Images in EM
    • Kids Korner
    • Medicolegal Mind
    • Opinion
      • Break Room
      • New Spin
      • Pro-Con
    • Pearls From EM Literature
    • Policy Rx
    • Practice Changers
    • Problem Solvers
    • Residency Spotlight
    • Resident Voice
    • Skeptics’ Guide to Emergency Medicine
    • Sound Advice
    • Special OPs
    • Toxicology Q&A
    • WorldTravelERs
  • Resources
    • ACEP.org
    • ACEP Knowledge Quiz
    • Issue Archives
    • CME Now
    • Annual Scientific Assembly
      • ACEP14
      • ACEP15
      • ACEP16
      • ACEP17
      • ACEP18
      • ACEP19
    • Annals of Emergency Medicine
    • JACEP Open
    • Emergency Medicine Foundation
  • About
    • Our Mission
    • Medical Editor in Chief
    • Editorial Advisory Board
    • Awards
    • Authors
    • Article Submission
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Subscribe
    • Privacy Policy
    • Copyright Information

ACEP Clinical Policy on Acute Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

By Stephen J. Wolf, MD, FACEP | on February 7, 2017 | 0 Comment
ACEP Policy Features
  • Tweet
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
Print-Friendly Version

In October 2016, the ACEP Board of Directors approved a clinical policy on the evaluation and management of adult patients presenting to the emergency department with acute carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning. Developed by ACEP’s Clinical Policies Committee, this clinical policy can also be found on ACEP’s website and has been submitted for inclusion on the National Guideline Clearinghouse website.

You Might Also Like
  • ACEP Refines Its Clinical Policy on Psychiatric Boarding
  • ACEP Clinical Policy on Emergency Department Management of Patients Needing Reperfusion Therapy for Acute ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction
  • ACEP Board Approves tPA Clinical Policy
Explore This Issue
ACEP Now: Vol 36 – No 02 – February 2017

There are approximately 50,000 ED visits per year as a result of CO poisoning. Acute poisonings have extremely varied presentations, from minimal symptomatology to unresponsiveness, hypotension, severe acidemia, or acute respiratory failure. CO poisoning is also known to be associated with longer-term morbidity and mortality. Neurologic sequelae have been described in 12 percent to 68 percent of poisoned patients, and mortality rates increase threefold compared with matched unexposed individuals at a median follow-up of 7.6 years after exposure.

Table 1. Translation of Classes of Evidence to Recommendation Levels

Strength of recommendations regarding each critical question were made by subcommittee members using results from strength of evidence grading, expert opinion, and consensus among subcommittee members according to the following guidelines:

Level A recommendations: Generally accepted principles for patient care that reflect a high degree of clinical certainty (eg, based on evidence from one or more Class of Evidence I or multiple Class of Evidence II studies).

Level B recommendations: Recommendations for patient care that may identify a particular strategy or range of strategies that reflect moderate clinical certainty (eg, based on evidence from one or more Class of Evidence II studies or strong consensus of Class of Evidence III studies).

Level C recommendations: Recommendations for patient care that are based on evidence from Class of Evidence III studies or, in the absence of any adequate published literature, based on expert consensus. In instances where consensus recommendations were made, “consensus” is placed in parentheses at the end of the recommendation.

Based on feedback from the ACEP membership, the committee focused on three clinical questions about the evaluation and management of acute CO poisoning in the emergency department. A systematic review of the evidence was conducted, and the committee made recommendations (Level A, B, or C) based on the strength of evidence available (see Table 1). This clinical policy underwent internal and external review from emergency physicians, medical toxicologists, hyperbaric medicine specialists, the Council of Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine Fellowship Directors, and the ACEP Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine Section leadership during the 60-day open-comment period. These responses were used to refine and enhance the final policy but do not imply endorsement of the clinical policy.

Pages: 1 2 3 | Single Page

Topics: ACEPAmerican College of Emergency PhysiciansClinicalClinical GuidelineED Critical CareEmergency DepartmentEmergency MedicineGuidelinePatient CarePoisonpolicyRecommendationToxicologyTrauma & InjuryTreatment

Related

  • Case Report: When Syncope Gets Hairy

    June 17, 2025 - 0 Comment
  • Toxicology Answer: the Jequirity Bean

    May 9, 2025 - 0 Comment
  • Toxicology Question: Which Plant Contains a Protein That Inhibits Cell Function?

    May 9, 2025 - 0 Comment

Current Issue

ACEP Now: June 2025 (Digital)

Read More

No Responses to “ACEP Clinical Policy on Acute Carbon Monoxide Poisoning”

Leave a Reply Cancel Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


*
*

Wiley
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy
  • Terms of Use
  • Advertise
  • Cookie Preferences
Copyright © 2025 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved, including rights for text and data mining and training of artificial technologies or similar technologies. ISSN 2333-2603