Student-selected component in the medical curriculum: investigations and psychiatric referral for paracetamol overdose in an accident and emergency department

Figures & data

Table 1 Blood tests performed on admission of patients to the Accident and Emergency Department and following N-acetylcysteine (NAC) treatment

Blood test	Number of patients receiving test on admission (n=34)	Number of patients receiving test after NAC treatment (n=14)
Serum paracetamol levels	97.1% (n=33)	100% (n=14)
U&E	94.1% (n=32)	100% (n=14)
LFTs	91.2% (n=31)	100% (n=14)
INR	85.3% (n=29)	92.9% (n=13)

Abbreviations: U&E, urine and creatinine; LFTs, liver-function tests; INR, international normalized ratio.

Table 2 Psychiatric referral for psychosocial assessment in intentional overdose cases prior to discharge

Intentional overdose cases (n =29)
	Received psychiatric referral	No indication of psychiatric referral	Left department
Patients	89.7% (n=26)	6.9% (n=2)	3.4% (n=1)