What antidotes should my hospital stock?
December 15, 2009, 1:24 pm
EXPERT CONSENSUS GUIDELINES FOR STOCKING OF ANTIDOTES IN HOSPITALS THAT PROVIDE EMERGENCY CARE Dart RC et al. Ann Emerg Med 2009;54:386.
This article is essential reading for all physicians and clinical pharmacists who participate in or plan for the care of poisoned patients. Inadequate stocking of crucial antidotes in hospitals and emergency has been a persistent and well-documented problem. In this study an expert panel, following detailed and careful methods, established a set of guidelines (which they state specifically are “not intended to create a standard of care”) to aid in such stocking decisions. The amount of antidote recommended was that sufficient to treat one 100-kg patient.
The panel considered 24 antidotes. They recommended that 12 antidotes be available immediately (that is, stocked in the emergency department). These are: atropine, calcium gluconate, cyanide antidote kit OR hydroxocobalamin, digoxin immune Fab, flumazenil, glucagon, methylene blue, naloxone, physostigmine, pyridoxine, and sodium bicarbonate. The also recommended that another 9 antidotes be available within one hour: acetylcysteine, Wyeth polyvalent Crotalidae antivenin OR Crotalidae Polyvalent immune Fab, coral snake antivenin, deferoxamine, dimercaprol, ethanol OR fomepizole, octreotide, potassium iodide, and pralidoxine.
It’s certainly possible to challenge some of these recommendations. Since the Crotalidae antivenin is the most expensive of the recommended antidotes ($18,000 – $36,000 for an 8-hour course) it would not make sense for every hospital to stock it. The panel did take this into consideration, and recommended that each hospital carry out an antidote hazard risk assessment to determine individual needs. The paper also notes that the coral snake antivenin has been discontinued by the manufacturer. In addition, I don’t think that flumazenil and physostigmine would be considered by all clinicians as antidotes that absolutely must be stocked in the emergency department. (They are both, however, relatively inexpensive.) But despite these points of contention, the guidelines serve as a very valuable starting point for considering antidote purchasing and stocking.
One interesting fact I learned from this paper: glucagon is incredibly expensive. The cost of an 8-hour course of treatment ($7875) is much greater than that for hydroxocobalamin, IV acetylcysteine, fomepizole, and pralidoxime combined.