RT Book, Section
A1 Lu, Jenny J.
A1 Fernandez, Rosaura
A2 Reichman, Eric F.
SR Print(0)
ID 1159799238
T1 Gastric Lavage
T2 Reichman's Emergency Medicine Procedures, 3e
YR 2018
FD 2018
PB McGraw-Hill Education
PP New York, NY
SN 9781259861925
LK accessemergencymedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1159799238
RD 2024/04/20
AB Gastric  lavage  is  a  method  of  gastrointestinal  decontamination,  performed  in  the  setting  of  an  acute  poisoning  by  ingestion,  to  decrease  the  absorption  of  substances  in  the  stomach.  This  technique  was  first  described  in  1812  and  has  been  used  for  nearly  200  years.1  It  was  repopularized  in  the  1950s  and  1960s  and  thrived  during  the  heyday  of  the  “tricyclic  era”  of  the  1970s  and  1980s.  The  use  of  gastric  lavage  in  the  Emergency  Department  has  decreased  greatly  in  modern  toxicology.  Various  sources  continue  to  reiterate  the  potentially  serious  complications  with  this  procedure.  Trends  toward  evidence-based  medicine  and  the  growing  body  of  experimental  and  clinical  data  point  to  the  limited  efficacy  of  gastric  lavage.  Gastric  lavage  was  performed  in  approximately  10.3%  of  all  ED-treated  poisoning  cases  between  1998  and  2003,  a  decrease  from  18.7%  during  the  period  of  1993  through  1997.2  The  increasing  use  of  other  modalities  for  gut  decontamination  (e.g.,  activated  charcoal)  has  further  limited  the  role  of  gastric  lavage.1,3  The  American  Academy  of  Clinical  Toxicology  (AACT)  states  that  “gastric  lavage  should  not  be  performed  routinely,  if  at  all,  for  the  treatment  of  poisoned  patients.”4