Citation

Schepers R, van der Voort PHJ, van Werven EW, Uges DRA, Franssen EJF. Netherlands Journal of Critical Care 2014; 18(1): 22-24.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

We present a case report of a 79-year-old woman who injected herself with pentobarbital. After admission to hospital, laboratory examination revealed a lethal serum concentration of pentobarbital (33 mg/L; toxic serum level > 10mg/L) in the patient. This case of a pentobarbital overdose illustrates that legal issues, such as the authenticity of a written patient statement, have to be considered in decisions on the continuation or discontinuation of curative care.

Language: en

Keywords

Intoxication; human; Suicide; female; alcohol; hypothermia; aged; case report; suicide attempt; drug overdose; article; drug intoxication; high performance liquid chromatography; patient care; coma; noradrenalin; dopamine; brain death; legal aspect; urinalysis; artificial ventilation; immunochemistry; Glasgow coma scale; electroencephalography; pentobarbital; Legal issues; Barbiturates; Pentobarbital; Withdrawal of life support; apnea; blood analysis; sinus bradycardia; propylene glycol; cardiogenic shock; infrared spectroscopy