Methyl salicylate overdose

Injury	Disease	Nutrition	Poison

Symptoms	Surgery	Test	Special Topic

Overview

Symptoms

Treatment

Methyl salicylate overdose

Alternative Names:

Deep heating rubs overdose; Oil of wintergreen overdose

Before Calling Emergency:

Determine the following information:

Patient's age, weight, and condition
Name of the product (ingredients and strengths, if known)
Time it was swallowed
Amount swallowed

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:

Methods to make the person throw up
Activated charcoal.
Laxative
Blood tests to determine the salicylate level in the blood
Fluids (milk, fruit juice, or, in severe cases, IV fluids)
Sodium bicarbonate
Dialysis (in severe cases)

Expectations (prognosis):

How well a patient does depends on how much salicylate is in the blood. The person usually recovers if the effect of the salicylate can be turned off (neutralized).

Methyl salicylate (oil of wintergreen) is the most poisonous (toxic) form of the salicylates. Doses of less than 1 teaspoonful have been deadly in small children.

Review Date: 3/13/2006
Reviewed By: Eric Perez, MD, Department of Emergency Medicine, St. Luke's-RooseveltHospital Center, New York, NY. Review provided by VeriMed HealthcareNetwork.

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