PEDIATRICS Vol. 82 No. 4 October 1988, pp. 674-675
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow P3Rs: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when P3Rs are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow E-mail this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My File Cabinet
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by RUCK, B.
Right arrow Articles by MOFENSON, H. C.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by RUCK, B.
Right arrow Articles by MOFENSON, H. C.

Dosage of Acetylcysteine in Acetaminophen Poisoning

BRUCE RUCK RPH1, THOMAS R. CARACCIO PHARMD2, and HOWARD C. MOFENSON MD3

1 St John's University, College of Pharmacy
2 Long Island Regional Poison, Control Center and Department of Pharmacy, St John's University
3 Long Island Regional Poison Control Center, Department of Pediatrics, State University of New York at Stony Brook

To the Editor.—

We received several calls from physicians planning to treat acetaminophen overdoses in adolescents with five doses of N-acetylcysteine (Mucomyst), orally. These physicians indicated that they obtained these guidelines from the Harriet Lane Handbook.1

The Harriet Lane Handbook1(p248) states the following "PO or NG: Mucomyst diluted 1:4 in a carbonated beverage as a loading dose of 140 mg/kg, then 70 mg/kg Q 4h for 5 doses (some recommend 18 doses)." The references cited in the handbook2,3 do not recommend five oral doses of N-acetylcysteine as stated and we could not find this recommendation in any other references.