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Forty-two adults in deep coma due to uncomplicated overdosage with barbiturates or tricyclic antidepressants were studied to determine the effects of the drugs and the depth of coma on ventilation and acid-base balance. All the patients were breathing spontaneously. The usual acid-base disturbance was a mixed respiratory and metabolic acidosis. No differences in effects of barbiturates and tricyclic antidepressants could be demonstrated in either grade of coma studied. Patients who were completely unresponsive to painful stimuli were significantly more acidemic (arterial [H+] 51.4 nmole/liter c.f. 44.4 mole/liter) and hypoxic (PaO2 6.6 kPa c.f. 10.5 kPa) than those who showed a minimal response to pain. These findings could not be explained by differences in alveolar ventilation, and it is suggested that they are due to ventilation/perfusion imbalance.
G R Sutherland, and
J Park, and
A T Proudfoot
October 1971,
Terapevticheskii arkhiv,
G R Sutherland, and
J Park, and
A T Proudfoot
January 1986,
Medical toxicology,
G R Sutherland, and
J Park, and
A T Proudfoot
January 1959,
Sistema nervoso,
G R Sutherland, and
J Park, and
A T Proudfoot
December 1974,
JAMA,
G R Sutherland, and
J Park, and
A T Proudfoot
February 1970,
The Practitioner,
G R Sutherland, and
J Park, and
A T Proudfoot
May 1979,
American family physician,
G R Sutherland, and
J Park, and
A T Proudfoot
April 1979,
British medical journal,
G R Sutherland, and
J Park, and
A T Proudfoot
October 2000,
Cleveland Clinic journal of medicine,
G R Sutherland, and
J Park, and
A T Proudfoot
March 1991,
The Medical journal of Australia,
G R Sutherland, and
J Park, and
A T Proudfoot
November 1989,
Anaesthesia and intensive care,
