title: Indications for single-dose activated charcoal administration in acute overdose.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Gastrointestinal decontamination in overdose patients remains a controversial problem in emergency medicine. There has been a significant decrease in the use of single-dose activated charcoal (SDAC) in recent years based on little new evidence and possibly because the overall mortality in overdose patients is low.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Human volunteer studies suggest SDAC is effective and this effect occurs for up to 4 h after ingestion, but the magnitude of the reduction in area under the curve (AUC) decreases over time. Two randomized controlled trials including one recent large study did not find SDAC to be beneficial. Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic studies of specific drugs in overdose suggest that for most drugs SDAC decreases drug exposure, but this does not translate to clinical benefit in all cases. The administration of SDAC is a low-risk intervention.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although SDAC is unlikely to be beneficial in many overdose patients, for some subgroups with severe poisoning, the benefits will outweigh the low risk of administration. The use of SDAC should be based on the potential toxicity of the drug ingested and the potential benefit of SDAC balanced against the willingness of the patient to take SDAC and the low risk of administration.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Toxicology and Pharmacology, Calvary Mater Newcastle and Discipline of Clinical Pharmacology, University of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. geoff.isbister@gmail.com
authors.forename: Geoffrey K
authors.initials: GK
authors.lastname: Isbister
authors.forename: Venkata V Pavan
authors.initials: VV
authors.lastname: Kumar
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000931:Antidotes / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D019540:Area Under Curve; D002606:Charcoal / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003666:Decontamination; D062787:Drug Overdose / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D011041:Poisoning / Q000188:drug therapy*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D000931:Antidotes; D002606:Charcoal