ISSN: 2161-0495
+44 1478 350008
Mathew Nelson
North Shore Hospital,
300 Community Dr, Manhasset, NY 11030
Tanzania
Case Report
Initiation of Gastric Lavage in a Patient with Acute Overdose after Visualization
of Pills in Stomach using Bedside Ultrasound
Author(s): Tanya Bajaj, Mathew Nelson and Valerie LehmanTanya Bajaj, Mathew Nelson and Valerie Lehman
Medication overdose is a common presenting complaint to the Emergency Department (ED) and is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality. Though the use of gastric lavage (GL) in patients with acute overdose has fallen out of favour over the last two decades, there are some instances in which GL may be still being considered as an important adjunctive therapy. This article describes a patient who presented after a massive acute overdose in which Point of Care Ultrasound (POCUS) was used to enhance decision making to proceed with initiation of GL in the ED. Our case report demonstrates the potential value of POCUS in detecting a large quantity of pills in the stomach of a patient after acute ingestion of pills in the ED. As Emergency physicians become more adept at the use of POCUS for novel applications and as the modalities themselves have significantly improved in image resolutio.. View More»
DOI:
10.4172/2161-0495.1000331