High-flow Hemodialysis Research Articles

Barbiturates in Survival Kits

To the Editor.— A 29-year-old man was brought to the Emergency Room by his family, who reported that he had taken an overdose of phenobarbital after an argument with his wife. He was a chronic user of barbiturates. When first seen, the patient was unresponsive to all stimuli, and his breathing was shallow at a tidal volume of 100 ml and a rate of 10/min. The patient was intubated, gastric lavage was performed, and he received intravenous fluids and furosemide for diuresis. Peritoneal dialysis was begun and continued until the patient was placed on high-flow hemodialysis for four hours. At the end of four hours, the patient was responsive to painful stimuli. Peritoneal dialysis was continued until the patient made a recovery. Notable in this case was that the patient consumed approximately eight hundred 32-mg capsules, for a total of about 24 gm of phenobarbital. Also notable was the source,