Contents

Disclaimer

Oxford University Press makes no representation, express or implied, that the drug dosages in this book are correct. Readers must therefore always check the product information and clinical procedures with the most up to date published product information and data sheets provided by the manufacturers and the most recent codes of conduct and safety regulations. The authors and the publishers do not accept responsibility or legal liability for any errors in the text or for the misuse or misapplication of material in this work. Except where otherwise stated, drug dosages and recommendations are for the non-pregnant adult who is not breastfeeding.

Show Summary Details
Page of

Management of tricyclic antidepressant poisoning 

Management of tricyclic antidepressant poisoning
Chapter:
Management of tricyclic antidepressant poisoning
Author(s):

Giorgio Berlot

and Ariella Tomasini

DOI:
10.1093/med/9780199600830.003.0321
Page of

PRINTED FROM OXFORD MEDICINE ONLINE (www.oxfordmedicine.com). © Oxford University Press, 2021. All Rights Reserved. Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a PDF of a single chapter of a title in Oxford Medicine Online for personal use (for details see Privacy Policy and Legal Notice).

date: 01 August 2021

Tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) are still prescribed worldwide for the treatment of major depression and other disorders. Unfortunately, the safety margin of these agents is rather narrow and TCA-related intoxication is associated with a number of potentially life-threatening side effects. The symptoms being rather unspecific, a high index of suspicion is warranted in order to identify promptly the intoxicated patients and to provide the appropriate care, even before the detection and dosage of TCAs and related metabolites in the blood and/or urine. In the absence of a specific antidote, the treatment basically consists in the support of ventilation in comatose patients, the correction of arterial hypotension, the treatment of arrhythmias, and the enhancement of renal excretion of TCAs.

Access to the complete content on Oxford Medicine Online requires a subscription or purchase. Public users are able to search the site and view the abstracts for each book and chapter without a subscription.

Please subscribe or login to access full text content.

If you have purchased a print title that contains an access token, please see the token for information about how to register your code.

For questions on access or troubleshooting, please check our FAQs, and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us.