Phenobarbital overdose: a kinetic approach.
A case that utilizes a pharmacokinetic approach to evaluate the need for withdrawal prophylaxis after a phenobarbital overdose is presented. To date, the practitioner has had to rely on an accurate drug-use history to predict which patients may be at risk for withdrawal symptoms. Since this information is often difficult to obtain, some other means of identifying potential withdrawal-syndrome patients would be useful. This case describes the successful use of kinetically determined parameters, the elimination rate constant and half-life, in predicting withdrawal potential. This easily used kinetic approach may provide practitioners with a useful tool for predicting those patients at risk for withdrawal symptoms following phenobarbital overdose.
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006207:Half-Life; D006801:Humans; D007700:Kinetics; D010634:Phenobarbital / Q000378:metabolism / Q000506:poisoning*; D013997:Time Factors
D010634:Phenobarbital