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The Management Of Tricyclic Antidepressant Poisoning: The Role Of Gut Decontamination, Extracorporeal Procedures And Fab Antibody Fragments, Paul I. Dargan, Mark G. Colbridge, Alison Jones

Graduate School of Medicine - Papers (Archive)

Although there have been descriptive, uncontrolled clinical reports of removal of tablet debris by gastric lavage, there have been no clinical studies that have demonstrated that this has any impact on outcome in patients with tricyclic antidepressant (TCA) poisoning. There is also the possibility that lavage may increase drug absorption by pushing tablets into the small intestine. Furthermore, gastric lavage in patients with TCA poisoning may induce hypoxia and a tachycardia potentially increasing the risk of severe complications such as arrhythmias and convulsions. In view of the paucity of evidence that gastric lavage removes a significant amount of drug and …