Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
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Learning Objectives |
Upon completion of this section, you should be able to
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Treatments No Longer Recommended as Routine Treatments for Poisoning |
Data is lacking to show that any of the following treatments improve the outcome in poisoned patients:
Furthermore, these treatments can be associated with morbidity. Therefore they are no longer recommended as routine treatments. (American Academy of Clinical Toxicology and European Association of Poison Centres and Clinical Toxicologists 1997) The presence of vomiting and diarrhea in cholinesterase poisoning would certainly obviate such treatment in any case. Finally, it is contraindicated if the diluent for the cholinesterase inhibitor is a hydrocarbon with high aspiration potential. (Durham and Hayes 1962; American Academy of Clinical Toxicology and European Association of Poison Centres and Clinical Toxicologists 1997; Clark 2002) While there is no evidence that activated charcoal improves the clinical outcome in poisoning cases, some would consider administrating activated charcoal, if the (American Academy of Clinical Toxicology and European Association of Poison Centres and Clinical Toxicologists 1997)
Note: Persistent levels of cholinesterase inhibitors have been detected in the gastric contents of some patients suffering from the intermediate syndrome (a delayed manifestation of cholinesterase inhibitor poisoning --- discussed later). (De Bleecker, Van Den Neucker et al. 1993) Although one might conclude that charcoal and gastric emptying might improve outcome for these cases. This has not yet been subjected to empirical study. |
Key Points |
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Progress Check |