Hydrocodone and acetaminophen overdose

DO NOT INDUCE VOMITING. Seek emergency medical care immediately.

Determine the following:

• The patient's age, weight, and condition
• The name of the product (ingredients and strengths, if known)
• The time it was swallowed
• The amount swallowed
• It the medication was prescribed for the patient

See Poison Control centers for telephone numbers and addresses. Take the container with you to the emergency room.

Some or all of the following procedures may be performed:

• For swallowed poison
  • Placement of a tube down the nose and into the stomach (a nasogastric tube, or an NG tube) to wash out the stomach (gastric lavage).
  • Activated charcoal administration.
  • Give IV fluids.
  • Admission to the hospital.
  • For Tylenol, N-Acetyl cysteine is given if the blood Tylenol level is high enough. Without the antidote, the patient has fatal liver failure.
  • Treat the symptoms.
  • Give a counteracting medication (narcotic antagonist). Multiple doses may be needed.

If an antidote can be given, recovery from an acute overdose occurs within 24 to 48 hours for hydrocodone, and within 3 to 4 days for acetaminophen.

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