Gastric lavage

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Gastric lavage

Gastric lavage
Lavage

In medicine, lavage is a general term referring to cleaning or rinsing. Specific types include:* Antiseptic lavage* Bronchoalveolar lavage* Gastric lavage...
, also commonly called stomach pumping or Gastric irrigation, is the process of cleaning out the contents of the stomach

Stomach

In most mammals, the stomach is a hollow muscular organ of the gastrointestinal tract involved in the second phase of digestion, following mastication....
. 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

Poison

In the context of biology, poisons are Chemical substance that can cause disturbances to organisms, usually by chemical reaction or other activity on the molecular scale, when a sufficient quantity is absorbed by an organism....
or overdosed

Drug overdose

The term drug overdose describes the ingestion or application of a drug or other substance in quantities greater than are recommended or generally practiced....
on a drug

Psychoactive drug

A psychoactive drug or psychotropic substance is a chemical substance that acts primarily upon the central nervous system where it alters brain function, resulting in temporary changes in perception, mood , consciousness and behaviour....
. They may also be used before surgery

Surgery

Surgery is a medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, to help improve bodily function or appearance, or sometimes for some other reason....
, to clear the contents of the digestive tract before it is opened.

ric 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.

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Encyclopedia

Stomach

Poison

Drug overdose

The term drug overdose describes the ingestion or application of a drug or other substance in quantities greater than are recommended or generally practiced....
on a drug

Psychoactive drug

Surgery

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, by pH testing a small amount of aspirated stomach contents, or x-ray. 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

Hyponatremia

Hyponatremia is an electrolyte disturbance in which the sodium concentration in the blood plasma is too low .Severe or rapidly progressing hyponatremia can result in swelling of the brain , and the symptoms of hyponatremia are mainly neurology....
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

Intubation

In medicine, intubation refers to the placement of a tube into an external or internal orifice of the body. Although the term can refer to endoscopy procedures, it is most often used to denote tracheal intubation....
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. 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. Relative contraindications include when the poisoning is due to a corrosive substance , hydrocarbons , or for poisons that have an effective antidote

Antidote

An antidote is a substance which can counteract a form of poison. The term ultimately derives from the Greek a?t?d?d??a? antididonai, "given against"....
.

Alternatives

An alternative for gastric lavage is the oral administration of activated carbon

Activated carbon

Activated carbon, also called activated charcoal or activated coal, is a form of carbon that has been processed to make it extremely porous and thus to have a very large surface area available for adsorption or chemical reactions....
, a form of carbon with a large surface area for binding poisons, preventing absorption by the gastrointestinal tract

Gastrointestinal tract

The digestive tract is the system of Organ s within multicellular animals that takes in food, digestion it to extract energy and nutrients, and expels the remaining waste....
.

Complications

Many complications have been reported although it appears serious complications are uncommon. The most dangerous risk is aspiration pneumonia

Aspiration pneumonia

Aspiration pneumonia is bronchopneumonia that develops due to the entrance of foreign materials that enter the bronchial tree, usually oral or gastric contents ....
, which is more likely to occur if hydrocarbons are ingested or in patients without a protected airway. Other complications include laryngospasm

Laryngospasm

In medicine, laryngospasm is an uncontrolled/involuntary muscular contraction of the laryngeal cords. The condition typically lasts less than 30 or 60 seconds, and causes a partial blocking of breathing in, while breathing out remains easier....
, hypoxia

Hypoxia (medical)

Hypoxia is a Pathology condition in which the body as a whole or a region of the body is deprived of adequate oxygen supply. Variations in arterial oxygen concentrations can be part of the normal physiology, for example, during strenuous physical exercise....
, bradycardia

Bradycardia

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, hyponatremia

Hyponatremia

Hypochloremia

Hypochloremia is an electrolyte disturbance whereby there is an abnormally depleted level of the chloride ion in the blood. It rarely occurs in the absence of other abnormalities....
, water intoxication

Water intoxication

Water intoxication is a potential fatal disturbance in brain functions that results when the normal balance of electrolytes in the body is pushed outside of safe limits by over-consumption of water....
, or mechanical injury to the stomach.

Gastric lavage

Technique

Indications

Contraindications

Alternatives

Complications

See also

External links