Introduction: Mortality from paracetamol overdose is now about 0.4%, although severe liver damage occurs without treatment in at least half of people with blood paracetamol levels above the UK standard treatment line. In adults, ingestion of less than 125 mg/kg is unlikely to lead to hepatotoxicity; even higher doses may be tolerated by children without causing liver damage.
Methods and outcomes: We conducted a systematic review and aimed to answer the following clinical question: What are the effects of treatments for acute paracetamol poisoning? We searched: Medline, Embase, The Cochrane Library and other important databases up to March 2006 (Clinical Evidence reviews are updated periodically; please check our website for the most up-to-date version of this review). We included harms alerts from relevant organisations such as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
Results: We found 24 systematic reviews, RCTs, or observational studies that met our inclusion criteria. We performed a GRADE evaluation of the quality of evidence for interventions.
Conclusions: In this systematic review we present information relating to the effectiveness and safety of the following interventions: activated charcoal (single or multiple dose), gastric lavage, ipecacuanha, liver transplant, methionine, N-acetylcysteine.