Posts in Toxicology
“Gotta Go Right Now”: Use of Whole Bowel Irrigation in the Treatment of Lithium Toxicity

A 30-year-old female with a history of bipolar disorder presented after intentional lithium overdose. The patient reported feeling increasingly depressed for several weeks with intermittent suicidal thoughts. She reported getting into a verbal altercation with family while drinking alcohol and subsequently ingested a nearly full bottle of lithium (approximately 40 tablets, each with a concentration of 300 mg). She reported mild blurred vision and anxiety, but otherwise denied any other subjective complaints…

Read More
LAST Chance to Verify That Dose

A 34-year-old male presents to the emergency department from his urologist’s office after exhibiting word-finding difficulty and confusion during an elective surgery. He had previously been feeling well and is otherwise healthy. Per discussion with his urologist, the patient reported continued discomfort during the procedure, so he was given additional lidocaine until his pain was sufficiently managed. He developed symptoms that progressed from dizziness to word-finding difficulty and confusion. It was subsequently noticed that he had accidentally been treated with 2% lidocaine without epinephrine instead of 1% lidocaine without epinephrine, thus doubling the intended dose…

Read More
Pediatric Baclofen Overdose

A 16 year-old male presented to the emergency department after intentional overdose of 200 mg of baclofen. The patient was found in his bedroom by family members approximately 10 hours after ingestion with reported twitching, vomiting, unresponsiveness, and possible seizure activity. On arrival to the emergency department, the patient was awake, alert, and oriented; tearful, but otherwise asymptomatic…

Read More