Therapeutic misadventure with paracetamol

TW Ho, KC Lam
Canossa Hospital, 1 Old Peak Road, Hong Kong

A 33-year-old woman presented with jaundice, tiredness, nausea, and vomiting of three days� duration after taking two glasses of gin and tonic together with 13 tablets of 500 mg paracetamol. Blood investigation results inferred a toxic hepatitis due to paracetamol overdose. She made an uneventful recovery. The case illustrates that if paracetamol is taken together with alcohol, even a relatively small dose of paracetamol can cause liver damage. Current studies of paracetamol poisoning are also discussed.

Hong Kong Med J 1996;2:434-6

Key words: Acetaminophen; Poisoning; Hepatitis, toxic; Acetylcysteine; Methionine