Therapeutic plasma exchange in poisoning: 8 years' experience of a university hospital.
OBJECTIVE
This study examined the extracorporeal methods for the elimination of toxic substances in poisoned patients that are used by clinicians taking care of such patients. Here we present our experience in the use of therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE). To the best of our knowledge, this is the largest number of poisoning cases ever reported in a study.


METHODS
This is a retrospective study conducted at the Çukurova University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine, with the permission of the ethical committee of the medical faculty. The study includes patients who had undergone TPE because of poisoning between January 2007 and May 2015. We summarize the clinical data and outcomes of the patients with available files.


RESULTS
A total of 36 cases among the 42 patients who underwent TPE in this 8-year period were included in the study. More than 20 identified toxic substances, most of which were pesticides, were found to be the causes of poisoning. Twenty-three healthy discharges and 12 deaths are discussed in the study.


CONCLUSIONS
We believe that our study reports the largest ever number of poisoning cases treated with TPE in the literature. When applicable, TPE may be a promising extracorporeal elimination and treatment technique in poisoned patients when performed in selected cases.
Department of Emergency Medicine, Çukurova University Faculty of Medicine, Adana, Turkey. Electronic address: ranalpay@gmail.com.
Nezihat Rana
NR
Dişel
Department of Emergency Medicine, Çukurova University Faculty of Medicine, Adana, Turkey.
Ayça Açıkalın
AA
Akpınar
Department of Emergency Medicine, Çukurova University Faculty of Medicine, Adana, Turkey.
Ahmet
A
Sebe
Intensive Care Unit, Department of Internal Medicine, Çukurova University Faculty of Medicine, Adana, Turkey.
Emre
E
Karakoç
Department of Emergency Medicine, Çukurova University Faculty of Medicine, Adana, Turkey.
Selen
S
Sürer
Balcali Hospital, Hemapheresis, Stem Cells and Cryopreservation Unit, Çukurova University School of Medicine, Adana, Turkey.
Ferda Tekin
FT
Turhan
Biochemistry Division of Central Laboratory, Çukurova University Faculty of Medicine, Adana, Turkey.
Selçuk
S
Matyar
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005112:Extracorporeal Circulation; D005260:Female; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008499:Medical Records; D008875:Middle Aged; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010951:Plasma Exchange / Q000379:methods*; D011041:Poisoning / Q000628:therapy*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014421:Turkey; D055815:Young Adult