Patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) after medication overdose are often given activated charcoal initially for gastrointestinal decontamination. Complications of charcoal are rare, but do occur. The following case describes a patient with pre-existing undiagnosed diverticular disease who developed sigmoid perforation after a single dose of activated charcoal, given without cath...

We conducted an exploratory controlled trial to examine the efficacy of restricting access to charcoal in preventing suicides from carbon monoxide poisoning by charcoal burning in Hong Kong. All charcoal packs were removed from the open shelves of major retail outlets in the intervention region for 12 months; in the control region, charcoal packs were displayed as usual. The suicide rate from c...

BACKGROUND An epidemic of carbon monoxide poisoning suicide by burning barbecue charcoal has occurred in East Asia in the last decade. We investigated the spatial and temporal evolution of the epidemic to assess its impact on the epidemiology of suicide in Taiwan. METHODS AND FINDINGS Age-standardised rates of suicide and undetermined death by charcoal burning were mapped across townships (me...

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to investigate the therapeutic effect of traditional wooden toothbrush usage on most severe constipation, which usually occurs in spinal cord injury (SCI) patients. METHODS In a quasi-experimental study, 61 SCI patients were selected who had injuries in different spinal levels (cervical, thoracic, and lumbar), and severe constipation from one defection in ...

Background & Aims of the Study: Nitrate is one of the most important contaminants in aquatic environments that can leached to water resources from various sources such as sewage, fertilizers and decomposition of organic waste. Reduction of nitrate to nitrite in infant’s blood stream can cause “blue baby” disease in infants. The aim of this study was to evaluate the...

BACKGROUND The case-fatality for intentional self-poisoning in the rural developing world is 10-50-fold higher than that in industrialised countries, mostly because of the use of highly toxic pesticides and plants. We therefore aimed to assess whether routine treatment with multiple-dose activated charcoal, to interrupt enterovascular or enterohepatic circulations, offers benefit compared with ...

Theophylline poisoning with a blood level of 183 mg/l in a 38-year-old man was treated with activated charcoal by mouth, but despite this the blood level of theophylline rose and there was circulatory collapse with rhabdomyolysis, acute renal failure and hyperthermia. Treatment with charcoal haemoperfusion and simultaneous haemodialysis was given, followed by continuous arteriovenous haemodialy...

Sedgley et al [1] studied several different types of charcoal, including those derived from coconut, coal, hardwood, and petroleum byproducts. The charcoal with the best pumping characteristics (speed and capacity) was PCB coconut charcoal, US mesh size 12x30 (granule size 0.6-1.7 mm). This type of charcoal did not have the largest overall surface area (per volume), despite what one might expec...

Linkages between household energy technology, indoor air pollution, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have become increasingly important in understanding the local and global environmental and health effects of domestic energy use. We report on GHG emissions from common Kenyan wood and charcoal cookstoves. Our estimations are based on 29 d of measurements under the conditions of actual use in ...

BACKGROUND Activated charcoal is commonly used to manage overdose or accidental ingestion of medicines. This study evaluated the effect of activated charcoal on apixaban exposure in human subjects. METHODS This was an open-label, three-treatment, three-period, randomized, crossover study of single-dose apixaban (20 mg) administered alone and with activated charcoal given at 2 or 6 h post-dose...