Lipid emulsion therapy during management of the critically-ill poisoned patient: a prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Despite conflicting data, intravenous lipid emulsion has emerged as a potential antidote. The "lipid sink" theory suggests that following intravenous administration of lipid, lipophilic drugs are sequestered in the vascular compartment, thereby reducing their tissue concentrations. This study sought to determine if survival is associated with the intoxicant's degree of lipophilicity. METHODS: We reviewed all cases in the Toxicology Investigators Consortium's lipid sub-registry between May 2012 through December 2018. Information collected included demographics, exposure circumstances, clinical course, management, disposition, and outcome. The primary outcome was survival after lipid emulsion therapy. Survival was stratified by the log of the intoxicant's octanol-water partition coefficient. We also assessed the association between intoxicant lipophilicity and an increase in systolic blood pressure after lipid emulsion administration. RESULTS: We identified 134 patients, including 81 (60.4%) females. The median age was 40 years (interquartile range 21-75). One hundred and eight (80.6%) patients survived, including 45 (33.6%) with cardiac arrest during their intoxication. Eighty-two (61.2%) were hypotensive, and 98 (73.1%) received mechanical ventilation. There was no relationship between survival and the log of the partition coefficient of the intoxicant on linear analysis (P = 0.89) or polynomial model (P = 0.10). Systolic blood pressure increased in both groups. The median (interquartile range) systolic blood pressure before lipid administration was 68 (60-78) mmHg for those intoxicants with a log partition coefficient < 3.6 compared with 89 (76-104) mmHg after lipid administration. Among those drugs with a log partition coefficient > 3.6, the median (interquartile range) was 69 (60-84) mmHg before lipid and 89 (80-96) mmHg after lipid administration. CONCLUSION: Most patients in this cohort survived. Lipophilicity was not correlated with survival or the observed changes in blood pressure. The study did not address the efficacy of lipid emulsion.

Hypoglycemia after accidental pediatric sulfonylurea ingestions.

BACKGROUND: Because the prevalence of type 2 diabetes increases annually, there has been an increase in pediatric exposures to sulfonylureas. These medications are associated with delayed and often prolonged hypoglycemia. As such, most authorities but not all recommend admission for all pediatric patients with an accidental sulfonylurea ingestion. METHODS: This study is a retrospective chart review of all pediatric patients with sulfonylurea exposures admitted for 9 years at an urban, pediatric teaching hospital. The incidence and characteristics of the hypoglycemia were recorded and analyzed. RESULTS: During this time span, 93 patients with accidental sulfonylurea exposures were admitted, with a median age of 1.83 years. Glyburide and glipizide accounted for most sulfonylureas. Hypoglycemia (blood glucose level <50 mg/dL) developed in 25 (58.1%) of 43 patients who ingested glipizide, compared with 10 (25.6%) of 39 patients who ingested glyburide. The overall incidence of hypoglycemia was 44%. Hypoglycemia was more likely to occur with glipizide ingestion than glyburide (odds ratio, 3.89 [95% confidence interval, 1.51-9.98]). No patient with a known time of ingestion developed hypoglycemia after 13 hours. CONCLUSIONS: Hypoglycemia is common after accidental sulfonylurea exposures. The results of this study support mandatory admission to a monitored setting for at least 16 hours, with frequent glucose determinations.

The Toxicology Investigators Consortium Case Registry-the 2018 Annual Report.

The Toxicology Investigators Consortium (ToxIC) Registry was established by the American College of Medical Toxicology (ACMT) in 2010. The Registry collects data from participating sites with the agreement that all bedside medical toxicology consultation will be entered. The objective of this ninth annual report is to summarize the Registry's 2018 data and activity with its additional 7043 cases. Cases were identified for inclusion in this report by a query of the ToxIC database for any case entered from 1 January to 31 December 2018. Detailed data was collected from these cases and aggregated to provide information which included demographics, reason for medical toxicology evaluation, agent and agent class, clinical signs and symptoms, treatments and antidotes administered, mortality, and whether life support was withdrawn. A total of 51.5% of cases were female, 48% were male, and 0.6% transgender. Non-opioid analgesics were the most commonly reported agent class, followed by antidepressants and opioids. Acetaminophen was once again the most common agent reported. There were 106 fatalities, comprising 1.5% of all registry cases. Major trends in demographics and exposure characteristics remained similar to past years' reports. Sub-analyses were conducted to describe exposures in elderly patients, addiction consultation practices, and risk factors for bupropion-induced seizures. The launch of the ToxIC Qualified Clinical Data Registry (TQCDR) is also described.

Utilization of Observation Units for the Care of Poisoned Patients: Trends from the Toxicology Investigators Consortium Case Registry.

Many poisoned patients may only require a period of observation after their exposure. There are limited data describing the use of observation units for managing poisoned adult and pediatric patients. We performed a retrospective review of all patients reported to the ToxIC Case Registry between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2013. Eligible patients included those who received a bedside consultation by a medical toxicologist and whose care was provided in an observation unit, or those who were admitted under the care of a medical toxicologist in an observation unit. A total of 15,562 poisonings were reported to the registry during the study period, of which 340 (2.2 %) involved patients who were cared for in an observation unit. Of these patients, 22.1 % were 18 years of age or younger, and the remaining 77.9 % were greater than 18 years of age. The most common reason for exposure was the intentional ingestion of a pharmaceutical agent in both adult (30.2 %) and pediatric patients (36.0 %). Alcohols (ethanol) (24.9 %), opioids (20.0 %), and sedative-hypnotics (17.7 %) were the most common agent classes involved in adult patient exposures. The most common agent classes involved in pediatric exposures were antidepressants (12.0 %), anticonvulsants (10.7 %), and envenomations (10.7 %). In adult patients, the most common signs and symptoms involved the nervous system (52.0 %), a toxidrome (17.0 %), or a major vital sign abnormality (14.7 %). In pediatric patients, the most common signs and symptoms involved the nervous system (53.3 %), a toxidrome (21.3 %), or a major vital sign abnormality (17.3 %). The results of this study demonstrate that a wide variety of poisoned patients have been cared for in an observation unit in consultation with a board-certified medical toxicologist. Patterns for the reasons for exposure, agents responsible for the exposure, and toxicological treatments will continue to evolve. Further study is needed to identify better those poisoned patients who can be appropriately managed in an observation unit.