Introduction:

Paracetamol poisoning can produce acute liver failure. Its prognosis depends on early diagnosis and timely initiation of specific therapeutic measures.

Objective:

To make health professionals aware of the appropriate diagnostic-therapeutic approach to acute paracetamol poisoning.

Clinical cases:

These are ten female adolescents, median age 13.5 years, with acute and intentional poisoning. 9 presented psychopathology, 5 previous self-elimination attempts (AEIs), and 7 were monitored by a mental health team. 4 received treatment with psychoactive drugs. Median dose of paracetamol 10 g (5-40 g). Drug rescue was performed with activated charcoal in 8, associated with gastric lavage in 6. The median time between intake and rescue was 2.5 hours (1-3.5 hours). They presented digestive symptoms 6 and were asymptomatic 3. Paracetamol was dosed after 4 hours and in the first 24 hours of ingestion in 7, being undetectable in 1. In the remainder, the risk of liver toxicity was classified as: possible 2, probable 3 and 1 without risk. A loading dose of n-acetyl cysteine was administered to 7 and full maintenance treatment to 6. 9 were admitted to moderate care and 1 to intensive care. There were no complications or deaths.

Discussion/Conclusions:

Acute paracetamol poisoning in adolescents is usually secondary to AEI. The prevalence of mental health problems and AEI in this population constitutes an alert for health professionals who must know the profile of the drugs used and the diagnostic-therapeutic approach to possible poisoning. Given the risk of severe hepatotoxicity, it is necessary to act quickly considering the dose ingested, time since ingestion, and risk factors for hepatotoxicity.

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