RT Book, Section 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. SR Print(0) ID 1121513201 T1 Caustic Ingestions T2 Tintinalli’s Emergency Medicine: A Comprehensive Study Guide, 8e YR 2016 FD 2016 PB McGraw-Hill Education PP New York, NY SN 9780071794763 LK accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1121513201 RD 2024/03/28 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