Suggest Treatment For Accidental Ingestion Of High Doses Of Paracetamol In Children

Posted on Sun, 29 May 2016

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Sun, 29 May 2016 Answered on

Thu, 30 Jun 2016 Last reviewed on

Question : Hello, my daughter might have swallowed a 650 mg paracetamol tablet. She is 28 months and 14.5 kgs. Should we take her to ER or a doctor. Thanks for your advice.

Answered by Dr. Diptanshu Das (28 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Monitoring advisable.

Detailed Answer:
Thanks for asking on Health care magic.

The regular dose of paracetamol is 15mg/kg/dose. In this case it is certainly an overdose. However, paracetamol is a very safe medicine and is usually tolerated well. Most probably no harm would result but still the child needs to be monitored for signs of hepatotoxicity. I would insist you to take your child to the hospital for the same.

Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Sonia Raina