Medical manual of chemical warfare, 1943 / War Office.

  • Great Britain. War Office.
Date:
1943
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Medical manual of chemical warfare, 1943 / War Office. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    92/100 (page 84)
    Plate IX.—Blue Type of Asphyxia from Phosgene Poisoning, with intense venous congestion History of the case. Drawing made early on second day after exposure when there was copious frothy sputum, frequent cough, and hurried shallow respiration of 40 to 48 with temperature of 101° and pulse 100. The patient was bled 15 oz. and oxygen added to the air that he breathed. He soon made a complete recovery. 3 Such intense venous congestion was more frequent with chlorine than with phosgene poisoning. It is associated with a full strong pulse at the outset, though later the pulse may fail and the asphyxia change to the pallid type shown in Plate X. The patient as a rule is fully conscious and complains chiefly of headache and pains in the chest ; he turns restlessly to and fro in extreme general discomfort, and his hurried breathing is interrupted from time to time by short bursts of coughing and expectoration. The lung is in the cedematous state shown in Plate VIII. Oxygen, when given by an efficient apparatus, will at once change the blue tint of the face to a full pink colour, showing that it can still be absorbed by the blood through the lungs. Venesection relieves the discomfort felt by the patient, and lessens thé embarrassment of the circulation.