Is it still appropriate to use activated carbon in veterinary medicine?
Charcoal has been used for medical purposes for a long time. Recently, activated carbon pellets has been used to treat toxic ingestion and is still a form of gastrointestinal (GI) decontamination in poisoned patients (both human and animal). But now, in human medicine, this use has been greatly reduced, and other methods have been used instead of treatment (such as hemodialysis, plasma exchange).
In order to be effective, activated carbon must be in physical contact with the poison....