An extracorporeal device to treat barbiturate poisoning. Use of anion-exchange resins in dogs

Abstract

A study of a technique to treat phenobarbital poisoning by pumping the blood of the victim over anion-exchange resins was made. Laboratory mongrel dogs were given lethal doses of sodium phenobarbital (150 mg/kg of body weight) orally. Sixteen to 21 hr. later, when the dogs were comatose, their blood was pumped over a column containing 1,100 gm of the anion-exchange resin (Amberlite IRA 900). Perfusion of the blood over the resin at 100 ml/min. for 2 hr. lowered the serum phenobarbital levels from 17.0 mg/100 cc to between 5.5 and 7.8 mg/100 cc. Eight of 11 dogs so treated were resuscitated and survived a 2-week period of observation without complications.