A short cut review was carried out to establish whether gastric lavage was better than activated charcoal alone at reducing toxicity after aspirin or other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) overdose. Altogether 72 papers were found using the reported search, of which one presented the best evidence to answer the clinical question. A further relevant paper was found on scanning the references of papers identified. The author, date and country of publication, patient group studied, study type, relevant outcomes, results and study weaknesses of these best papers are tabulated. A clinical bottom line is stated.