Phenothiazine overdose

Injury	Disease	Nutrition	Poison

Symptoms	Surgery	Test	Special Topic

Overview

Symptoms

Treatment

Phenothiazine overdose

Home Treatment:

DO NOT make a person throw up unless told to do so by Poison Control or a health care professional. Seek immediate medical help.

Before Calling Emergency:

Determine the following information:

Patient's age, weight, and condition
The name of the product (ingredients and strengths, if known)
When it was swallowed
The amount swallowed
If the drug was prescribed for the patient

Poison Control, or a local emergency number:

The National Poison Control Center (1-800-222-1222) can be called from anywhere in the United States. This national hotline number will let you talk to experts in poisoning. They will give you further instructions.

This is a free and confidential service. All local poison control centers in the U.S. use this national number. You should call if you have any questions about poisoning or poison prevention. It does NOT need to be an emergency. You can call for any reason, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Take the container with you to the hospital, if possible.

See National Poison Control center.

What to expect at the emergency room:

The health care provider will measure and monitor the patient's vital signs, including temperature, pulse, breathing rate, and blood pressure. The patient may receive:

Medicines to treat symptoms
EKG
Activated charcoal
Laxative
A nasogastric (NG) tube thru the nose into the stomach to empty the stomach (gastric lavage)
Medicine (antidote) to reverse the effect of the poison

Expectations (prognosis):

These overdoses often require treatment in a health care facility. If symptoms worsen, medical care may be required for up to a week.

Review Date: 2/28/2006
Reviewed By: Stephen C Acosta, MD, Department of Emergency Medicine, Portland VA Medical Center, Portland, OR. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.

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