General Approach to the Poisoned Patient

Abstract

Poisoning and ingestions constitute an increasing amount of morbidity and mortality nationwide. According to the American Association of Poison Control Centers (AAPCC), 2.2 million exposures were reported in 2013, and ingestions are currently the leading cause of injury-related death in the United States. Exposures include intentional overdose or suicide attempts, accidental overdose in drug abusers or children, and work-related injuries or acts of terrorism. According to the AAPCC, 50% of exposures are in children less than 5 years old and 80% of exposures are unintentional. When it comes to the unstable undifferentiated and possibly poisoned patient, one must take a stepwise approach similar to that for any critically ill patient, This review covers the pathophysiology, stabilization and assessment, diagnosis and treatment, and disposition and outcomes of poisoning. Figures show The Full Outline of Unresponsiveness (FOUR) scale, a patient with methemoglobinemia, a hand with scaling due to mercury poisoning, an electrocardiogram with examples of QT prolongation and QRS widening, and an electrocardiogram of bidirectional ventricular tachycardia, pathognomonic of digitalis glycoside poisoning. Tables list a stepwise approach to a potentially poisoned patient, a general approach to the poisoned patient, heart rate, toxidromes, anticholinergic toxidrome, cholinergic toxidrome, Glasgow Coma Scale, toxins and associated odors, electrocardiogram findings, causes of anion-gap metabolic acidosis, and antidotes. This review contains 5 highly rendered figures, 13 tables, and 23 references Key words: Poison ingestion, Accidental poisoning, Toxidrome, Accidental overdose