Oral tetridamine exposures.

Objective: Tetridamine is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug of the class indazols used topically as co-adjuvant for vaginitis. No previous data have been published about tetridamine overdoses.

Methods: Retrospective analysis of single ingestions of tetridamine vaginal douches reported to the Spanish Poison Control Centre from January 1991 to December 2003.

Results: Seventy-seven cases met the inclusion criteria; 89.6% of the patients were over age 14 years. Exposures primarily involved female patients (94.4%). In 87% of cases, the tetridamine was ingested when it was mistaken for an oral preparation or for an oral antiseptic. The rest were unintentional exposures in children (10.4%) or suicide attempts (2.6%). Clinical effects, present in 17 patients, were mainly gastrointestinal (11 patients) followed by neurological (3 patients) or both (3 patients). The most common symptom was vomiting, followed by nausea, abdominal pain, and headache. One woman who ingested 4 g in a suicidal attempt became comatose.

Conclusion: This is the first report of tetridamine overdoses. An effort should be made by physicians and pharmacists to explain clearly the correct directions for the use of vaginal irrigation preparations.