[Intoxication with an unknown sedative substance].

We describe a 64-year old patient who was admitted comatose to the medical emergency department. After excluding relevant differential diagnoses and considering the clinical picture of a "sedative toxidrome" a presumable diagnosis of an intoxication with an unknown sedative substance was made. Phenobarbital was detected in the blood. Decontamination procedures and therapy in patients with phenobarbital intoxication are delineated and discussed.