Five subgroups of poisoned patients are defined based on the type of drug ingested, whether a single drug or multiple drugs were ingested, and the time interval in which they were seen
| Group | Description | Drugs | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Drugs regarded as highly toxic (where supportive care alone may be ineffective) or where there is no antidote available, and where early decontamination with charcoal is potentially life saving. This group included any cases where one of these drugs was ingested: A: cause significant early sedation B: less likely to cause sedation | A | Tricyclic antidepressants |
| Carbamazepine | |||
| Hydroxychloroquine | |||
| Quinine | |||
| Thioridazine | |||
| B | Theophylline | ||
| Calcium channel blockers | |||
| Colchicine | |||
| Arsenic, boric acid | |||
| Antiarrhythmics (flecainide) | |||
| β blockers | |||
| 2 | Drugs that may cause early sedation, are treated effectively with supportive care and activated charcoal is unlikely to affect major outcomes. This group included only single ingestions of these drugs or where only combinations of these drugs were taken. | Benzodiazepines | |
| Ethanol | |||
| Antihistamines (excluding pheniramine and diphenhydramine) | |||
| Opioids | |||
| Other hypnotics (zolpidem, zopiclone) | |||
| 3 | Paracetamol containing analgesics where only this analgesic or analgesic combination was ingested. | Paracetamol | |
| Paracetamol/codeine | |||
| Paracetamol/codeine/antihistamine | |||
| 4 | All other single or multiple drug ingestions not fitting criteria for groups 1–3 | Available from authors | |