The use of IV lipid emulsion for lipophilic drug toxicities.

IV lipid emulsion (ILE) therapy is emerging as a potential antidote for lipophilic drug toxicities in both human and veterinary medicine. ILE has already gained acceptance in human medicine as a treatment of local anesthetic systemic toxicity, but its mechanism of action, safety margins, and standardized dosing information remains undetermined at this time. Experimental and anecdotal use of ILE in the human and veterinary literature, theorized mechanisms of action, current dosing recommendations, potential adverse effects, and indications for use in human and veterinary emergency medicine are reviewed herein.