Acute caffeine ingestion fatalities: management issues.
Caffeine is used and abused on a daily basis in different beverages, OTC products, and as a prescribed medication. The strength varies widely from negligible in decaffeinated drinks to medicinal grade of 200 mg/tablet. A total of 7,655 exposures were recorded in 1995 by the AAPCC Toxic Exposure Surveillance System with no fatality. However, within a 4-mo period, the Panhandle Poison Center recorded 2 deaths due to caffeine overdose. The abrupt onset of intractable seizures needs to be anticipated in order to appropriately manage the victims and to prevent the adverse outcome.
Shum
S
S
Panhandle Poison Center, Northwest Texas Healthcare System Inc, Amarillo 79175, USA.
Seale
C
C
Hathaway
D
D
Chucovich
V
V
Beard
D
D
D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002110:Caffeine / Q000032:analysis / Q000506:poisoning*; D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants / Q000506:poisoning*; D004032:Diet; D062787:Drug Overdose / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000737:chemistry; D011039:Poison Control Centers; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D012640:Seizures / Q000209:etiology; D013781:Texas / Q000453:epidemiology
D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations; D002110:Caffeine