Category LITFL
Toxicology-Conundrum-340 256

It was the little octopus!

A 21 year-old sailor placed a small blue and yellow octopus on his shoulder while wading back to shore after spear-fishing with a friend. As he reached the beach he threw the little octopus into the sea

Toxicology-Conundrum-340 256

Stingray envenoming

While riding in a boat off the North Queensland coast a 12 year-old boy was struck by a large fish that had catapulted itself out of the water.

Toxicology-Conundrum-340 256

Lionfish envenoming

Clinical case of a man being stung on the distal palmar surface of his right index finger by his lionfish (Pterois volitans) while cleaning his aquarium.

Toxicology-Conundrum-340 256

Little Johnny and Grandad’s warfarin

Little Johnny is an inquisitive 15kg 3 year-old boy. His grandad was looking after him for the evening. About an hour ago, the phone rang just as grandad was about to take his evening warfarin tablets. Although he only turned his back for a second, there was enough time for little Johnny to start ploughing into the tablets...

Toxicology-Conundrum-340 256

Paracetamol…too much, too often?

You are called by a doctor in a remote hospital asking for advice. The doctor is concerned about the risk of hepatotoxicity from repeated supratherapeutic ingestion (RSI) of paracetamol in the following patient:

Toxicology-Conundrum-340 256

Poisoning by a mercury thermometer

Your next patient is an 80 year old man suffering from Alzheimer's dementia. He was brought into the ED by his wife and daughter who are his care-givers. He had a recent catheter-associated urinary tract infection and his daughter was checking his temperature orally with a mercury thermometer 30 minutes previously.

Toxicology-Conundrum-340 256

Bitten by a Redback Spider

A 27 year-old woman felt a sting on the back of the right leg while pulling on her tracksuit pants. She investigated further and discovered a small black spider, with a red-stripe on its back, crawling around in her tracksuit pants.

Toxicology-Conundrum-340 256

Is this a RedBack I see before me?

Doctor X has just assessed a 44 year-old male who thinks he was bitten or stung by something under his house three days ago. The initial discomfort was mild and localized to his right forearm. However the pain traveled up his arm over the next few hours.

Toxicology-Conundrum-340 256

Snakebite versus Stickbite

aka Toxicology Conundrum 005 A 20 year-old male was walking in rural New South Wales (Australia!) when he noticed a brown-coloured snake. He was startled and stepped backwards onto a tree branch which snapped under his weight. He then saw…