Premium
A potentially fatal prescribing error in the treatment of paracetamol poisoning
Author(s) -
Little Mark,
Murray Lindsay,
McCoubrie David,
Daly Frank F S
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2005.tb07157.x
Subject(s) - medicine , emergency department , university hospital , medical emergency , family medicine , emergency medicine , psychiatry
[Extract] Paracetamol is one of the most common agents involved in deliberate self-poisoning in Australia. N-Acetylcysteine (NAC; Parvolex, Mayne Pharma Pty Ltd, Parkville, Vic) is the specific antidote, and its administration is recommended to all patients judged to be at risk of developing hepatotoxicity following paracetamol overdose. The standard administration regimen in Australia is a dose of 300 mg/kg given by staged intravenous infusion in 5% dextrose solution (150mg/kg over 15–60 minutes, followed by 50 mg/kg over 4 hours, followed by 100 mg/kg over 16 hours). This is how staff in Australia routinely calculate doses of NAC for infusion.