A clinical comparison of syrup of ipecac and apomorphine use in adults

Abstract

A prospective, randomized study was performed to compare syrup of ipecac to apomorphine as the emetic of choice in poisoning cases. Of the 28 adults studied, 15 patients (54%) received 30 ml of ipecac orally and 13 received 0.1 mg/kg apomorphine subcutaneously. Emesis was successfully induced with initial therapy in 13 of 15 (87%) ipecac-treated patients and 10 of 13 (77%) apomorphine-treated patients. In the ipecac group the mean latency period before onset of vomiting was 11.6 minutes (range 4 to 26 min) and in the apomorphine group, 5.3 minutes (range 2 to 13 min) (P less than .01). In the ipecac group, one patient suffered moderate central nervous system (CNS) depression. No hypotension or respiratory depression was observed in this group. In the apomorphine group significant CNS depression developed in eight patients (62%), hypotension developed in five (38%) and respiratory depression in one. There was no consistent relationship between type of poison ingested and occurrence of side effects.