Tropane Alkaloid Poisoning Treatment & Management

  • Author: Richard A Wagner, MD; Chief Editor: Asim Tarabar, MD   more...
 
Updated: May 27, 2011
 

Prehospital Care

Transport patient to nearest emergency facility with capabilities for advanced life support (ALS), at minimum. Primary assessment should focus on airway and respiratory, circulatory, and neurologic systems.

  • Unless patient is extremely agitated, obtain IV access and monitor vital signs frequently.
  • Consider administration of naloxone and thiamine.
  • Do not use ipecac and defer administration of activated charcoal, unless a prolonged transport time is anticipated.
  • Assess for hypoglycemia and other causes of altered mental status. Manage seizures with benzodiazepines.
  • Physostigmine is not recommended in prehospital setting.
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Emergency Department Care

As in all cases of suspected poisoning, follow the ABCDEs of emergency medicine (airway, breathing, circulation, disability, exposure), then the ABCDEs of toxicology (antidotes, basics, change absorption, change distribution, change elimination).

Provide oxygen and intubate if significant CNS or respiratory depression exists and no gag reflex is present. Assess circulation and initiate cardiac and pulse oximetry monitoring. Obtain a 12-lead ECG and evaluate for QRS prolongation, ischemia, and evidence of arrhythmia.

Sinus tachycardia is common and does not require treatment for a stable patient. Obtain blood for laboratory analysis and bedside glucose measurement while obtaining IV access. Inspection after full-body exposure should be performed to assess signs of trauma or seizure.

Agitated or hallucinating patients often respond to reassurance and a darkened room. If chemical restraint is required, benzodiazepines are the drugs of choice. Early consultation with a poison control center is frequently helpful.

Consider GI decontamination foremost. Ipecac is contraindicated because of the potential for seizures. Gastric lavage is controversial; while it is commonly performed, no reliable data on outcomes exist to support its use, and the risk of aspiration and other complications is increased. Administer activated charcoal (1-2 g/kg) orally or per nasogastric or orogastric tube. One or 2 additional doses may be given at 1- or 2-hour intervals to ensure adequate gut decontamination.

An ileus without distension is not a contraindication to a single dose of charcoal, and charcoal given alone may be as effective or more effective than emesis and lavage procedures. Use of cathartics to hasten elimination from GI tract remains controversial. Sorbitol may be used with first dose of charcoal; further use may cause serious fluid shifts to the intestine, diarrhea, dehydration, and hypernatremia.

Tropane alkaloids are lipophilic and cross the blood-brain barrier; hemodialysis and hemoperfusion are generally ineffective. No effective methods of changing distribution or elimination of tropane alkaloids exist.

Specific antidote for tropane alkaloid toxicity is physostigmine salicylate, a reversible acetylcholinesterase inhibitor capable of directly antagonizing CNS manifestations of anticholinergic toxicity.

Physostigmine (at doses lower than those producing peripheral side effects of salivation, lacrimation, urination, defecation, emesis) can reverse central effects of the following conditions:

  • Coma
  • Seizures
  • Hallucinations
  • Agitation
  • Severe dyskinesias
  • Respiratory depressio

However, unless relative certainty can be established that the toxicity present is due to tropane alkaloid poisoning and not to co-ingestants or other substances, confirmatory peripheral manifestations of anticholinergic toxicity should coexist prior to administration of physostigmine.

Physostigmine has been used as a diagnostic tool for tropane alkaloid poisoning, but this use is controversial.

Physostigmine can induce a life-threatening cholinergic crisis (eg, seizures, respiratory depression, asystole). Since most patients can be safely treated without this antidote, physostigmine preferably should be used in consultation with a poison control center and generally should be used only for patients in the following states:

  • Unresponsive to supportive measures
  • Tachydysrhythmias and subsequent hemodynamic compromise
  • Intractable seizures unresponsive to benzodiazepines
  • Extremely severe agitation or psychosis

Physostigmine is contraindicated in patients receiving tricyclic antidepressants, disopyramide, quinidine, procainamide, cocaine, or other agents producing cardiac conduction abnormalities. Relative contraindications include reactive airway disease, intestinal obstruction, and administration of depolarizing paralytic agents.

Following GI decontamination, most patients rarely require more than physiologic monitoring and psychologic support.

Patients experiencing agitation and hallucinations usually respond to reassurance and benzodiazepines.

Most phenothiazines are contraindicated because of their anticholinergic properties.

If signs or symptoms of urinary retention exist, Foley catheterization should be performed for bladder decompression.

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Consultations

  • Early consultation with a toxicologist or poison control center is frequently useful for toxic exposures or ingestions to help in decision-making with regard to decontamination and therapeutic interventions; this is particularly true with the use of physostigmine in cases of tropane alkaloid poisoning.
  • Psychiatric consultation is important for all intentional ingestions.
  • Contact with primary care provider is optimal for all hospital admissions or cases of serious illness.
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Contributor Information and Disclosures
Author

Richard A Wagner, MD  PhD, FACEP, Staff Physician, EmCare, Inc.

Richard A Wagner, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Emergency Physicians

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Coauthor(s)

Samuel M Keim, MD  Associate Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Arizona College of Medicine

Samuel M Keim, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Emergency Medicine, American College of Emergency Physicians, American Medical Association, American Public Health Association, and Society for Academic Emergency Medicine

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Specialty Editor Board

Michael S Beeson, MD, MBA, FACEP  Professor of Emergency Medicine, Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine and Pharmacy; Attending Faculty, Akron General Medical Center

Michael S Beeson, MD, MBA, FACEP is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Emergency Physicians, Council of Emergency Medicine Residency Directors, National Association of EMS Physicians, and Society for Academic Emergency Medicine

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

John T VanDeVoort, PharmD  Regional Director of Pharmacy, Sacred Heart & St. Joseph's Hospitals

John T VanDeVoort, PharmD is a member of the following medical societies: American Society of Health-System Pharmacists

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Michael Hodgman, MD  Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine, Bassett Healthcare

Michael Hodgman, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Medical Toxicology, American College of Physicians, Medical Society of the State of New York, and Wilderness Medical Society

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

John D Halamka, MD, MS  Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Chief Information Officer, CareGroup Healthcare System and Harvard Medical School; Attending Physician, Division of Emergency Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

John D Halamka, MD, MS is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Emergency Physicians, American Medical Informatics Association, Phi Beta Kappa, and Society for Academic Emergency Medicine

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Chief Editor

Asim Tarabar, MD  Assistant Professor, Director, Medical Toxicology, Department of Emergency Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine; Consulting Staff, Department of Emergency Medicine, Yale-New Haven Hospital

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

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Datura stramonium (jimson weed). Note 4-5 inch long white flowers.© 2000 Richard Wagner
Datura stramonium flower. Note the trumpetlike shape.© 2000 Richard Wagner
Datura stramonium (close-up of unripe seed pods). Note spiny appearance of pods.© 2000 Richard Wagner
Datura stramonium is the plant shown. © 2000 Richard Wagner
The plant shown is foxglove (Digitalis purpura), which contains cardiac glycosides, not tropane alkaloids. © 2000 Richard Wagner
 
 
 
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