Successful treatment of phenol poisoning with charcoal hemoperfusion

A 50-y-old Caucasian female inadvertantly received 30 ml of 89% phenol (26.9 g, 0.44 g/kg bw) [corrected]. At 23 min post-injection the patient was unresponsive and in shock. By 4 h post-injection she required large doses of vasopressors. At 4.5 h, charcoal hemoperfusion (CHP) was begun and she received that for 6 h and 20 min. Her clinical status improved during the CHP and she made a complete recovery. Phenol levels drawn prior to and after the procedure correlated her recovery with the improving phenol levels. CHP appears to have efficacy in severe acute phenol intoxication.