The intravascular infusion of 20% lipid emulsion to treat severe, systemic drug toxicity or poisoning. This was originally developed to treat local anaesthetic toxicity, a potentially fatal complication of regional anaesthesia that can also occur in other situations where patients receive local anaesthetic injections. More recently, it has been shown in peer-reviewed medical literature and elsewhere to be an effective antidote for poisoning or overdose caused by a wide array of other (non-local anaesthetic) lipophilic agents.
Initial support for this view was provided by a most remarkable case report where lipid emulsion infusion apparently saved a patient from overwhelming bupropion overdose. Since then, evidence from both laboratory models and case reports, indicates that it can effectively in treat a wide variety of non-local anaesthetic overdoses, including reversal of…
