Acute barbiturate poisoning: clinical picture and outcomes (literature review)

The features of the clinical course and the main outcomes at different stages of acute poisoning with barbituric acid preparations are considered.

The databases of the Russian National Library, PubMed, Medline, Medscape, eLIBRARY.RU, CyberLeninka were analyzed.

During barbiturate poisoning, it is customary to distinguish four consecutive stages depending on the concentration of the substance in the blood, each of which may be accompanied by the development of certain life-threatening conditions. The risk of developing critical conditions is due to a combination of poisoning with another etiology, the presence of concomitant pathology.

The complications and outcome of acute barbiturate poisoning largely depend on both the severity of the poisoning and the individual patient profile.

Authors’ contribution:
Demidova E.O. – research concept, collection and processing of material, writing, editing;
Reinyuk V.L. – writing, editing;
Kuznetsov S.V. – writing, editing;
Klimenko D.I. – writing, editing.
All co-authors are responsible for approving the final version of the article and ensuring the integrity of all its parts.

Conflict of interests. The authors declare no apparent and potential conflicts of interest in relation to the publication of this article.

Funding. The study had no sponsorship.

Accepted: January 14, 2025 / Revised: March 26, 2025 / Received: November 25, 2025 / Published: January 15, 2026

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