TY - CHAP M1 - Book, Section TI - Activated Charcoal A1 - Smith, Silas W. A1 - Howland, Mary Ann A2 - Nelson, Lewis S. A2 - Howland, Mary Ann A2 - Lewin, Neal A. A2 - Smith, Silas W. A2 - Goldfrank, Lewis R. A2 - Hoffman, Robert S. Y1 - 2019 N1 - T2 - Goldfrank's Toxicologic Emergencies, 11e AB - Activated charcoal (AC) is an excellent nonspecific adsorbent. Conclusions regarding the role of AC in poison management are achieved through the integration of pharmacologic data, controlled volunteer trials, studies in heterogeneous patients with overdose or poisoning, and clinical experience. Activated charcoal is provided to a patient after a risk-to-benefit assessment of the presumed ingested xenobiotic and patient-specific factors and circumstances. Benefits include preventing absorption or enhancing elimination by blocking enterohepatic or enteroenteric recirculation of a potentially toxic xenobiotic; risks include vomiting and subsequent aspiration pneumonitis. A detailed discussion of the merits of AC as a decontamination strategy is presented in Chap. 5. SN - PB - McGraw-Hill Education CY - New York, NY Y2 - 2024/04/18 UR - accessemergencymedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1163006519 ER -