PEDIATRICS Vol. 76 No. 5 November 1985, pp. 761-764
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Ipecac Administration in Children Younger Than 1 Year of Age

Toby L. Litovitz MD1, Wendy Klein-Schwartz PharmD1, Gary M. Oderda PharmD1, Nancy J. Matyunas PharmD1, Scott Wiley BSN1, and Richard L. Gorman MD1

1 From the National Capital Poison Center and Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington, DC; the Maryland Poison Center and University of Maryland School of Medicine and School of Pharmacy, Baltimore; the Intermountain Regional Poison Center and University of Utah School of Pharmacy, Salt Lake City; and the Blue Ridge Poison Center and University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville

The efficacy of ipecac syrup in the induction of emesis and safety of its administration was studied in 105 poison-exposed infants 6 through 11 months of age (study subjects) and compared prospectively with 302 poison-exposed infants and children 12 through 35 months of age who served as age controls. Of the 105 study subjects 101 (96.2%) vomited. The failure of ipecac to induce emesis in six patients (four of 105 study subjects two of 302 age control subjects) is comparable with ipecac failure rates reported elsewhere. The frequency of side effects caused by ipecac syrup did not differ between study and control subjects. There were no serious medical complications resulting from the administration of ipecac syrup. When not readily available at home, ipecac administration was delayed an additional 21.8 minutes if obtained from a pharmacy and 38.4 minutes if obtained from an emergency department. Because of the time delay and the increased health care cost, home rather than emergency department administration of ipecac should be advised. These data demonstrate that ipecac syrup effectively induces emesis and is safe for home administration to poisoned infants 6 to 11 months old.

Key Words: ipecac syrup • emetic • poisoning treatment

Submitted on April 25, 1984
Accepted on January 4, 1985