Diphenhydramine Overdose with Intraventricular Conduction Delay Treated with Hypertonic Sodium Bicarbonate and IV Lipid Emulsion

Diphenhydramine toxicity commonly manifests with antimuscarinic features, including dry mucous membranes, tachycardia, urinary retention, mydriasis, tachycardia, and encephalopathy. Severe toxicity can include seizures and intraventricular conduction delay. We present here a case of a 23-year-old ma...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Amin Abdi, Emily Rose, Michael Levine
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: eScholarship Publishing, University of California 2014-11-01
Series:Western Journal of Emergency Medicine
Online Access:http://escholarship.org/uc/item/9rt5529p
Description
Summary:Diphenhydramine toxicity commonly manifests with antimuscarinic features, including dry mucous membranes, tachycardia, urinary retention, mydriasis, tachycardia, and encephalopathy. Severe toxicity can include seizures and intraventricular conduction delay. We present here a case of a 23-year-old male presenting with recurrent seizures, hypotension and wide complex tachycardia who had worsening toxicity despite treatment with sodium bicarbonate. The patient was ultimately treated with intravenous lipid emulsion therapy that was temporally associated with improvement in the QRS duration. We also review the current literature that supports lipid use in refractory diphenhydramine toxicity. [West J Emerg Med. 2014;15(7):–0.]
ISSN:1936-900X
1936-9018