Medicine
Volume 35, Issue 11 , Pages 587-589, November 2007

Antidepressants

D Nicholas Bateman MD FRCP FRCPE FBPharmacolS FBTS is Professor in Clinical Toxicology and Director of the National Poisons Information Service (Edinburgh Unit) at the Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh, UK. He is the Past-President of the European Association of Poison Centres and Clinical Toxicologists. Competing interests: none declared

Abstract 

Antidepressant drugs differ in their relative toxicities. The most hazardous are monoamine oxidase inhibitors and tricyclics. Features include arrhythmias, convulsions and cardiovascular effects. Management should be as active as necessary to reduce arrhythmia risk by aggressive correction of acidosis and use of sodium bicarbonate to shorten QRS duration if prolonged. Venlafaxine and citalopram are the most toxic of the newer drugs.

Keywords: antidepressants, monoamine oxidase inhibitors, poisoning, selective noradrenaline re-uptake inhibitor, selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor, tricyclic antidepressants

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PII: S1357-3039(07)00277-0

doi:10.1016/j.mpmed.2007.08.009

Medicine
Volume 35, Issue 11 , Pages 587-589, November 2007

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