CONTINUOUS ARTERIOVENOUS HEMOPERFUSION IN MEPROBAMATE POISONING

A patient with severe meprobamate poisoning presented within 4 h after suicidal ingestion of an unknown amount of the drug. The patient was unconscious, unresponsive, and hypotensive. Continuous arteriovenous h emoperfusion with coated activated charcoal resulted in a clearance of 198.8 +/- 15.6 mL/min with an extraction ratio of 0.66 +/- 0.05 (n = 3). There was almost complete elimination of the drug from the blood b y 16 h. Continuous arteriovenous hemoperfusion, which can be performed in areas where dialysis facilities are not available, may be an effec tive adjunct to the treatment of acute meprobamate intoxication, parti cularly in patients with profound hypotension.