Clinical Pharmacology & Toxicology

Overdose patterns, antidotes, and drugs behaving badly.

Ward cases

Tablets over two days

A 19-year-old with toothache mentions, almost in passing, how much paracetamol she has actually taken.

Interpretation drills

pH7.46

PaCO217

HCO312

Anion gap26

Lactate2.8

Salicylate4.9 mmol/L

The salicylate gas

A mixed picture: respiratory alkalosis plus anion-gap acidosis, from the Blood Gas Lab.