Acute accidental exposure to chlorine gas in the southeast of Turkey: A study of 106 cases

The present study reports a thorough investigation of the sociodemographic characteristics, clinical findings, and treatment of persons affected acutely by chlorine gas exposure from a chlorine tank belonging to the municipality of Diyarbakir. One hundred six persons were assessed. In this cross-sectional study, 58 patients were male and 48 were female. Children and adolescents younger than 18 years constituted more than half of the patients (60 cases, 56.6%). The age of patients ranged between 3 months and 75 years. Among the cases evaluated in emergency rooms, 7 patients had mild poisoning and were discharged after first examinations and symptomatic treatments, 62 patients were moderately affected and were taken under observation, and the remaining 37 were severely affected and were hospitalized. In physical examinations, 29 patients had expiratory wheezing, and 1 had tachycardia and extrasystoles. There were no deaths among these patients, acute chlorine intoxication affected mostly children. Respiratory tract findings were predominant in most of the patients. Steroid and bicarbonate applications were inadequate supportive therapies. Humidified O-2 and beta-agonist applications were most useful in the therapy of acute chlorine intoxication. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science (USA).