Successful Treatment of Paraquat Poisoning: Activated Charcoal per os and “Continuous Hemoperfusion”

Abstract

Ingestion of paraquat results in an extremely dangerous poisoning. The first aim is to clear the gastrointestinal tract by inducing emesis and performing gastric/gut lavage; as much activated charcoal as possible should be administered per os and as quickly as possible. The best measure to eliminate paraquat from blood and tissue is hemoperfusion with coated activated charcoal; it has to be performed in the sense of "continuous hemoperfusion" about 8 h/d over a period of 2-3 weeks. These measures give a chance to lower the lethality of paraquat poisoning.