[Therapy of acute poisoning with orthograde intestinal lavage]

Orthograde intestinal lavage was successfully used in the treatment of eight patients with acute poisoning. Three had mushroom (Amanita pantherina) poisoning, five acute drug intoxication (attempted suicide: diazepam, dihydropyridine, crotylbarbital, phenobarbital, amitriptyline and glibenclamide). Within 5-18 hours the clinical signs of poisoning regressed in four patient in stage IV (after Reed), so that the patients became responsive. Detoxication by orthograde intestinal lavage is achieved by mechanical removal of nonabsorbed compounds from the gastro-intestinal tract and via intestinal dialysis across the intestinal mucosa.