Summary statement: new guidelines for the management of paracetamol poisoning in Australia and New Zealand

A large proportion of accidental paediatric exposures and deliberate self-poisoning incidents involve paracetamol; it is the leading pharmaceutical agent responsible for calls to Poisons Information Centres in Australia and New Zealand. Management of paracetamol poisoning has altered since the previous guidelines were published in 2008, so that they do not reflect current practice by clinical toxicologists. The key changes from the previous guidelines concern the indications for administration of activated charcoal; the management of patients taking large or massive overdoses; modified-release and supratherapeutic ingestions; and paediatric liquid paracetamol ingestion.