RT Book, Section
A1 Reichman, Eric F.
SR Print(0)
ID 57706158
T1 Chapter 59. Activated Charcoal Administration
T2 Emergency Medicine Procedures, 2e
YR 2013
FD 2013
PB The McGraw-Hill Companies
PP New York, NY
SN 978-0-07-161352-1
LK accessemergencymedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=57706158
RD 2024/04/18
AB The  adsorptive  capacity  of  charcoal  has  been  documented  since  the  time  of  Hippocrates  and  has  been  known  for  centuries.  Two  independent  researchers  were  responsible  for  its  wide  acceptance  in  the  early  nineteenth  century  when  each  of  them  performed  a  demonstration  of  its  effectiveness  by  ingesting  lethal  doses  of  strychnine  and  arsenic,  respectively,  followed  by  charcoal.  Both  of  them  survived.  The  twentieth  century  has  seen  charcoal  come  into  wide  medical  use  as  further  investigation  showed  its  effectiveness  at  adsorbing  a  wide  variety  of  compounds.1  Activated  charcoal  is  currently  the  most  commonly  used  mode  of  decontamination  in  the  Emergency  Department  for  poisoned  patients.2