Acute Medicine | Poisoning 01 knowledge A

Poisoning
Session Overview
Description
This session deals with management of poisonings, initially reviewing acute poisonings as a whole and general measures in managing them, before looking at some important examples of poisonings and their specific management.

By the end of this session you will be able to:

• Recognise important clinical signs and symptoms in different types of poisonings
• Explain the role of blood tests in poison cases
• Start the initial management in all types of overdoses
• Manage salicylate, paracetamol, tricyclic antidepressant and gamma-hydroxybutyrate poisoning

A significant number of patients are admitted to medical admissions units with overdoses. Commonly, overdoses are suicidal or accidental. The mortality for such hospitalised patients is around 1-2%.

The initial approach to these patients involves recognising:

• What type of poisoning has occurred
• The severity of the poisoning