TY - CHAP M1 - Book, Section TI - Caustic Ingestions A1 - Bouchard, Nicole C. A1 - Carter, Wallace A. A2 - Tintinalli, Judith E. A2 - Stapczynski, J. Stephan A2 - Ma, O. John A2 - Yealy, Donald M. A2 - Meckler, Garth D. A2 - Cline, David M. PY - 2016 T2 - Tintinalli’s Emergency Medicine: A Comprehensive Study Guide, 8e AB - Caustics are substances that cause both functional and histologic damage on contact with body surfaces. Many household and industrial chemicals have caustic potential. Caustics are broadly classified as alkalis (pH >7) or acids (pH <7). In developed nations, increased education and product regulation (especially of acids) have decreased morbidity and mortality from caustic exposures in both adults and children. However, in underdeveloped parts of the world, exposure to caustics remains a significant problem.1,2,3,4 The challenges to exposure prevention and patient care include relative lack of childproof containers, easy and unregulated access to highly corrosive substances, cultural-specific propensities to ingest caustics in suicide attempts, sheer high volume of cases, delays to care in rural settings, malnutrition, financial resources of hospitals and families to provide the services needed, and poor follow-up.4 Alkaline ingestions predominate in the developed world,5 whereas acid ingestions are more common in developing countries.6 SN - PB - McGraw-Hill Education CY - New York, NY Y2 - 2024/03/28 UR - accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1121513201 ER -