Serious complications associated with Dettol poisoning

Dettol is involved in 10percnt; of self-poisoning-related hospitaladmissions in Hong Kong. Although serious poisonings and evendeaths after ingesting this common household disinfectant havebeen reported, the frequency with which these complicationsmay occur is not known. In a retrospective study of 67 casesof Dettol poisoning, we found that serious complications wererelatively common (8%) and these included aspiration of Dettolwith gastric contents resulting in pneumonia, cardiopulmonaryarrest, bronchospasm, adult respiratory distress syndrome, andsevere laryngeal oedema with upper airways obstruction. It isparticularly important that the airways are adequately protectedbefore the patient is lavaged following Dettol poisoning, andthe immediate recognition of any upper airway obstruction requiringintubation will then be lifesaving.