I imagine every department has a frequent-flier patient like this – they keep getting referred to rehab, but they don’t stop bouncing back. And the hand cleanser keeps mysteriously running out.
This is case report and literature review of the National Poison Data System that documents the accidental and intentional exposures to ethanol-containing hand sanitizer. And, really, their numbers probably underestimate the issue – considering the cases reported to poison control are primarily in children under age 6. There are plenty of teenagers and other adults abusing these substances as well, but they are far less likely to be reported to a poison control center.
The case report is rather amusing – a teenager with a g-tube “looking for a buzz” who put 500mL of 61% ethanol hand sanitizer into the tube and subsequently required intubation and then dialysis when his first ethanol level was 720mg/dL.
“The rising incidence of intentional ingestion of ethanol-containing hand sanitizers”
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21926580