Treatment of phenobarbital overdose with activated charcoal

Abstract

Patients with phenobarbital overdose who are treated only with supportive care may remain comatose for several days because of the long elimination half-life of phenobarbital. Two patients with phenobarbital overdoses were treated with the nasogastric administration of multiple doses of activated charcoal. This safe therapy markedly shortened the elimination half-life of pbenobarbital and the duration of coma in these patients. If all such patients respond similarly, the nasogastric administration of multiple doses of activated charcoal could be the method of choice to accelerate the elimination of phenobarbital from the body.