From title on, this paper is a major fail

  1.5 out of 5 stars Intralipid therapy does not improve level of consciousness in overdoses with sedating drugs: A case series. Downes MA et al. Emerg Med Australas 2014 May 8. doi: 10.1111/1742-6723.12237. [Epub ahead of print] Abstract Frankly, I disliked everything about this paper. The authors did a retrospective chart review of patients at their institution who were given intralipid emulsion therapy (ILE) after presenting with a sedative drug overdose. Their goal was to determine if ILE improved the patients’ level of consciousness. Why did I hate this study? Let me count the ways: Title: The declarative sentence that is the title would lead one to believe the authors have an extensive series of observations involving many patients, with enough data points to back up their claim. Yet this paper describes only 9 patients, at least 5 of whom overdosed on quetiapine (Seroquel.) Only one patient took a benzodiazepine. The findings, even if valid, could not possibly be generalized to cover all sedating drugs. Trivial research question: I don’t know what the situation is in Australia (where the authors practice), but in general I think that, except for local anesthetic toxicity, ILE is still considered somewhat of a last-ditch effort in cases of cardiovascular collapse from an overdose involving a lipophilic drug. Most sedative overdoses will respond to supportive care alone, and should not require ILE. Methods: Or rather, lack thereof. There are methods...
Source: The Poison Review - Category: Toxicology Authors: Tags: Medical intralipid lipid emulsion therapy sedative overdose Source Type: news