Gastric lavage, also commonly called Stomach pump or Gastric irrigation, is the process of cleaning out the contents of the stomach. In Human anatomy, the stomach is a J-shaped hollow muscular organ of the Gastrointestinal tract involved in the second phase of Digestion, following It has been used for over 200 years as a means of eliminating poisons from the stomach. Such devices are normally used on a person who has ingested a poison or overdosed on a drug. In the context of Biology, poisons are substances that can cause damage, Illness, or Death to Organisms usually by The term drug overdose (or simply overdose or OD) describes the Ingestion or application of a Drug or other substance in quantities A psychoactive drug or psychotropic substance is a Chemical substance that acts primarily upon the Central nervous system where it alters Brain They may also be used prior to surgery, to clear the contents of the digestive tract before it is opened. Surgery (from the χειρουργική cheirourgikē, via chirurgiae meaning "hand work" is a medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental
Contents |
Technique
Gastric lavage involves the passage of a tube via the mouth or nose down into the stomach, followed by sequential administration and removal of small volumes of liquid. The placement of the tube in the stomach must be confirmed either by air insufflation while listening to the stomach, or by pH testing a small amount of aspirated stomach contents. This is to ensure the tube is not in the lungs. In adults, small amounts of warm water or saline are administered and via a siphoning action removed again. In children, normal saline is used ,as children are more at risk of developing hyponatremia if lavaged with water. Because of the possibility of vomiting, a suction device is always on hand in case of pulmonary aspiration of stomach contents. Lavage is repeated until the returning fluid shows no further gastric contents. If the patient is unconscious or cannot protect their airway then the patient should be intubated before performing lavage.
Indications
Gastric lavage is used infrequently in modern poisonings and some authorities have suggested that it not be used routinely, if ever, in poisoning situations. [1] Lavage should only be considered if the amount of poison ingested is potentially life-threatening and the procedure can be performed within 60 minutes of ingestion.
Contraindications
Lavage is contraindicated when patients have a compromised, unprotected airway and in patients at risk of gastrointestinal hemorrhage or perforation. In Medicine, a contraindication (pronounced as contra-indication is a condition or factor that increases the Risks involved in using a particular drug, Bleeding, technically known as hemorrhaging / haemorrhaging (see American and British spelling differences) is the loss of Blood from Relative contraindications include when the poisoning is due to a corrosive substance (T54.), hydrocarbons (T53.), or for poisons that have an effective antidote. S00-T14 - Injury (S00-S09 Head ( Superficial Injury of head ( Superficial injury of S00-T14 - Injury (S00-S09 Head ( Superficial Injury of head ( Superficial injury of An antidote or counterdose is a substance which can counteract a form of Poisoning.
Alternatives
An alternative for gastric lavage is usually the consumption of charcoal which will mix and block poison or drugs from going further into the stomach. Charcoal' is the blackish residue consisting of impure Carbon obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from Animal and Vegetation
Complications
Many complications have been reported although it appears serious complications are uncommon. The most dangerous risk is aspiration pneumonia, which is more likely to occur if hydrocarbons are ingested or in patients without a protected airway. Aspiration pneumonia is Bronchopneumonia that develops due to the entrance of foreign materials that enter the bronchial tree usually oral or gastric contents (including food Other complications include laryngospasm, hypoxia, bradycardia, epistaxis, hyponatremia, hypochloremia, water intoxication, or mechanical injury to the stomach. In Medicine, laryngospasm is an uncontrolled/involuntary muscular contraction ( spasm) of the Laryngeal cords The condition typically lasts less than 30 Chronic Hypoxia is a pathological condition in which the body as a whole ( generalized hypoxia) or region of the body ( tissue hypoxia) is deprived of adequate Bradycardia, as applied to adult medicine is defined as a resting Heart rate of under 60 beats per minute though it is seldom symptomatic until the rate drops below 50 beat/min Epistaxis (or a nosebleed in Plain English) is the relatively common occurrence of Hemorrhage from the Nose, usually noticed when the blood drains Hyponatremia ( British: hyponatraemia) is an Electrolyte disturbance (disturbance of the salts in the blood in which the Sodium ( Natrium Hypochloremia (or Hypochloraemia) is an Electrolyte disturbance whereby there is an abnormally depleted level of the Chloride ion in the Blood Water intoxication (also known as hyperhydration or water poisoning) is a potentially fatal disturbance in Brain functions that results when the
References
- ^ Vale JA, Kulig K; American Academy of Clinical Toxicology; European Association of Poisons Centres and Clinical Toxicologists. (2004). "Position paper: gastric lavage. ". J Toxicol Clin Toxicol 42 (7): 933–43. doi:. A digital object identifier ( DOI) is a permanent identifier given to an Electronic document. PMID 15641639.