Gastric evacuation for acute ethanol intoxication in a three year old

Abstract

A three year old girl presented in a deeply comatose state. She had drunk ethanol four hours previously and her blood ethanol concentration on arrival was 79.8 mmol/litre (3.69 g/litre). Because of her young age, high blood ethanol concentration, time since ingestion, and severe neurological depression on presentation, nasogastric aspiration of the stomach contents was performed and 4.2 g of ethanol were removed. She made an uneventful recovery.