title: Efficacy of gastric emptying: gastric lavage versus emesis induced with ipecac.
abstract: A prospective study was done to compare the efficacy of gastric emptying achieved by gastric lavage (GL) with that of ipecac-induced emesis (IE) in victims of drug overdose. Thiamine was used as a marker of recovery in gastric samples, as measured by ion exchange/ion pair high-performance liquid chromatography. There were 51 patients in the IE group and 37 in the GL group. GL produced a higher mean per cent recovery of thiamine than did IE (90% +/- 34% compared with 50% +/- 35%). There was a significant difference between the two groups (P less than .001). Recovery of thiamine was more than 70% in 28% of the IE patients, and exceeded 70% in 75% of GL patients. When gastric emptying is desired for management of the adult overdose victim, the use of GL maximizes the chance of recovering unabsorbed liquid drugs from the stomach.
authors.forename: P S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Auerbach
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Osterloh
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Braun
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: E C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Geehr
authors.forename: K W
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Kizer
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: McKinney
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005746:Gastric Emptying; D005751:Gastric Lavage; D006801:Humans; D007486:Ipecac / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011897:Random Allocation; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D013831:Thiamine
chemical_list: D007486:Ipecac; D013831:Thiamine