Emergency Department Observation of Poisoned Patients: How Long Is Necessary?

Abstract

A large subset of overdose patients who are medically cleared after six hours of observation can be identified within two to four hours of presentation. No patient who was believed to be safe for medical clearance at either two or four hours had a complication within the six-hour time period (95% CI = 0% to 1.8%). These data suggest that asymptomatic patients with selected acute intentional ingestions can be released from medical observation in less than six hours.