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| Dr Wong and Prof Graudins |
A Monash Health emergency physician and clinical
toxicologist, Dr Wong is researching the management and risk prediction of
patients who have overdosed on paracetamol.
“These patients are at risk of liver toxicity if they
don’t receive the antidote (acetylcysteine), and we are investigating the
modification of antidote treatment regimens,” said Dr Wong.
Paracetamol overdose is a major problem in both developed
and developing countries. As a single agent, paracetamol is the most common
pharmaceutical agent ingested for deliberate self-poisoning in Australia and
the rest of the developed world.
“In Australia, there are approximately 8,000 cases of
paracetamol poisoning each year while the UK and Wales see approximately 70,000
cases every year.”
“For those patients requiring treatment, most will need
to stay at least a day in hospital which can be problematic as many of these
patients also suffer from mental illness,” added Dr Wong.
“Dr Wong is the first PhD student in the Monash Emergency
Research Collaborative in the School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health
undertaking clinical research in toxicology,” said supervisor and Director,
Monash Clinical Toxicology Service Professor Andis Graudins.
“We are very proud of Dr Wong’s NHMRC scholarship achievement
and excited about his research assessing modified treatment regimens with
acetylcysteine, as well as validation of hepatotoxicity risk assessment tools
in various types of paracetamol poisoning.”
Professor Graudins said that modification of treatment
regimens based upon risk of developing liver toxicity will result in more
individualised treatment for patients and have significant impacts on length of
medical treatment and subsequent time to mental health assessment and treatment
after deliberate self-poisoning.
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