Annals of emergency medicine
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Case Reports
Electromechanical dissociation 48 hours after atenolol overdose: usefulness of calcium chloride.
Electromechanical dissociation (EMD) occurred in a 20-year-old woman 48 hours after an overdose of atenolol, despite intensive treatment of the beta-blocker poisoning (gastric lavage, charcoal, glucagon, epinephrine, atropine, correction of electrolyte abnormalities, administration of fluids, cardiac pacing, and mechanical ventilation). Administration of calcium chloride during EMD repeatedly restored blood pressure. Therefore it may have a role to play in management of atenolol overdose.
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We describe seven patients presenting with combination substance abuse involving gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB). ⋯ Emergency physicians should be alerted to this agent, its characteristic effects, and its potential for serious sequelae including respiratory arrest and death.