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BRISBANE — Doctors plugged an Italian tourist into a drip-feed of vodka to save him at a hospital in Australia that ran out of the medicinal alcohol it would normally have used for treatment.
The 24-year-old Italian, who was not further identified, was brought to Mackay Base Hospital in northeastern Queesland state and was diagnosed as having ingested a large quantity of ethylene glycol, a common ingredient of antifreeze that can cause renal failure.
Pure alcohol is often given in treating such cases because it can inhibit the toxic effects of ethylene glycol.
Mackay Base Hospital Dr. Pascal Gelperowicz said the man was given pharmaceutical-grade alcohol when he arrived, but that the hospital's supplies soon ran out.
"We quickly used all the available vials of 100 per cent alcohol and decided the next best way to get alcohol into the man's system was by feeding him spirits through a naso gastric tube," Dr. Gelperowicz said in a statement.
"The patient was drip-fed about three standard drinks an hour for three days in the intensive care unit," he said. "The hospital's administrators were also very understanding when we explained our reasons for buying a case of vodka."
The patient, was believed to have ingested the poison in an attempt at self-harm, made a successful recover. The incident occurred about two months ago, though the hospital just released information on the case.
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{"commentId":1088094,"authorDomain":"MinnieApolis"}
"The hospital's administrators were also very understanding when we explained our reasons for buying a case of vodka."
Man, are they going to have volunteer patients lining up around the block -- all the way from the airport!!!
{"commentId":1088094,"threadId":"160270","contentId":"1015385","authorDomain":"MinnieApolis"}
- 2 votes
#1 - Wed Oct 10, 2007 12:26 PM EDT{"commentId":1089354,"authorDomain":"moldor"}
(From a work colleague who knows about these things)
Firstly, it wasn't a drip, it was a tube.
Secondly: we detoxify alcohol with an enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase. This has an extremely high affinity for ethanol (alcohol) and a much reduced affinity for ethylene glycol.
Our kidneys can excrete ethylene glycol, and it is not itself dangerous, but the problem is that when alcohol dehydrogenase gets it the byproduct _is— dangerous. The trick in hospitals is to give alcohol. This ties up the enzyme which in turn gives the kidneys enough time to get rid of the ethylene glycol.
The catch is that the affinity of the enzyme for ethanol is so high that the amount of alcohol needed to keep it busy is quite small, much less than getting drunk.
Thirdly: we know from the RTA that we we're over the limit with 2 drinks in the first hour and one in each hour thereafter. Phrased differently, we can detoxify/excrete about a standard drink per hour. Broadly, at 3 drinks per hour we would expect after 1 hour 0.05, after two hours 0.10, after 20 hours 1%. If the tourist lasted to 1% blood alcohol before dying that would still have been in the first day.
A whole case of vodka? It must've been a good party!
:-)
{"commentId":1089354,"threadId":"160270","contentId":"1015385","authorDomain":"moldor"}
- 1 vote
#2 - Wed Oct 10, 2007 8:37 PM EDT{"commentId":1094662,"authorDomain":"discgolfdc"}
This particular means of managing an ethylene glycol (basically, the active ingredient in antifreeze) is, in fact, documented in Lubert Stryer's BIOCHEMISTRY textbook. If I recall correctly, he states that the chemical structure of ethanol resembles (closely) that of ethylene glycol, which causes a competitive inhibition situation. It's been years since I've read this, but out of that whole damn book, that's something I remember!!!
{"commentId":1094662,"threadId":"160270","contentId":"1015385","authorDomain":"discgolfdc"}
- 1 vote
#3 - Fri Oct 12, 2007 4:35 PM EDT{"canLink":false,"threadId":"160270","isPrivate":false}
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