Abstract
Treatment of the patient who has taken an overdose of a harmful substance includes support of vital functions and toxicologic analysis. Early recognition of signs and symptoms indicating poisoning by a specific agent or group of related chemicals is essential since specific antidotes may be lifesaving. Activated charcoal is an effective gastrointestinal decontaminant that adsorbs many common drugs. Administration of weak acids as an antidote to alkali ingestion is to be condemned; the only treatment should be dilution with water. The use of physostigmine as a specific antidote for the anticholinergic syndrome has been very successful; the incidence of this syndrome as a result of poisoning by tricyclic antidepressants is increasing. Effective therapy for acetaminophen overdose is still being investigated, but activated charcoal and methionine, if given early enough, seem to be effective.
Full text
PDF
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Cashman T. M., Shirkey H. C. Emergency management of poisoning. Pediatr Clin North Am. 1970 Aug;17(3):525–534. doi: 10.1016/s0031-3955(16)32448-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Crome P., Vale J. A., Volans G. N., Widdop P. Letter: Toxicity of paracetamol in children. Br Med J. 1976 Aug 21;2(6033):475–475. doi: 10.1136/bmj.2.6033.475-c. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Davidson D. G., Eastham W. N. Acute liver necrosis following overdose of paracetamol. Br Med J. 1966 Aug 27;2(5512):497–499. doi: 10.1136/bmj.2.5512.497. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Granacher R. P., Baldessarini R. J. Physostigmine. Its use in acute anticholinergic syndrome with antidepressant and antiparkinson drugs. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1975 Mar;32(3):375–380. doi: 10.1001/archpsyc.1975.01760210109008. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Levy G., Houston J. B. Effect of activated charcoal on acetaminophen absorption. Pediatrics. 1976 Sep;58(3):432–435. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Mathur L. K., Jaffe J. M., Colaizzi J. L., Moriarty R. W. Activated charcoal-carboxymethylcellulose gel formulation as an antidotal agent for orally ingested aspirin. Am J Hosp Pharm. 1976 Jul;33(7):717–719. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Newton R. W. Physostigmine salicylate in the treatment of tricyclic antidepressant overdosage. JAMA. 1975 Mar 3;231(9):941–943. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Prescott L. F., Newton R. W., Swainson C. P., Wright N., Forrest A. R., Matthew H. Successful treatment of severe paracetamol overdosage with cysteamine. Lancet. 1974 Apr 6;1(7858):588–592. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(74)92649-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Proudfoot A. T., Wright N. Acute paracetamol poisoning. Br Med J. 1970 Sep 5;3(5722):557–558. doi: 10.1136/bmj.3.5722.557. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Rumack B. H. Anticholinergic poisoning: treatment with physostigmine. Pediatrics. 1973 Sep;52(3):449–451. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]