Acute medicine Flashcards
1
Q
What happens to paracetamol in body?
A
95%: harmless metabolites
5%: NAPQI - toxic
2
Q
How is NAPQI normally prevented from being toxic?
A
glutathione makes NAPQI harmless
3
Q
What happens in paracetamol overdose?
A
Paracetamol does something to P450 to increase NAPQI levels
Run out of glutathione (glutathione usually stored for 8-24 hours)
NAPQI builds
Hepatocyte damage
4
Q
What would your plan be as an F1 if faced with a pt who has taken a paracetamol overdose?
A
ABCDE
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