Poisoning with table salt while treating drug poisoning.
NaCl poisoning
clinical toxicology
emetics
forensic pathology
hypernatremia
medical malpractice
prehospital care
Journal
Journal of forensic sciences
ISSN: 1556-4029
Titre abrégé: J Forensic Sci
Pays: United States
ID NLM: 0375370
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
10 Sep 2024
10 Sep 2024
Historique:
revised:
22
08
2024
received:
23
07
2024
accepted:
26
08
2024
medline:
10
9
2024
pubmed:
10
9
2024
entrez:
10
9
2024
Statut:
aheadofprint
Résumé
Hypernatremia is an increase in serum sodium concentration above 145 mmol/L. There are many causes of elevated sodium levels in the blood serum. One is incorrect actions performed by medical staff. The symptoms of excessively high serum sodium levels depend on the severity of hypernatremia, the rate of its increase and the accompanying volume disorders. Severe symptoms include altered consciousness, increased muscle tone and reflexes, convulsions, psychomotor hyperactivity or drowsiness (up to coma), respiratory failure, and even death. We present the case of a 45-year-old man who took seven tablets of a blood pressure-lowering drug, and paramedics subsequently administered a concentrated solution of table salt to induce vomiting. However, vomiting did not occur, leading to hypernatremia. Ultimately, the man survived but developed persistent cognitive dysfunction, including disordered short-term memory and encoding and retrieval of information from long-term memory, weakening of attention function and fatigue, and disorders in abstract thinking. The patient's family went to the prosecutor's office to investigate the possibility of medical malpractice. Experts found that the paramedics' actions were incorrect. Although it has been known for many years that table salt solutions should not be used to induce vomiting, unfortunately, both laypeople and medical professionals are still using this technique. Iatrogenic salt poisoning may end not only in serious health complications but also in legal consequences.
Identifiants
pubmed: 39252548
doi: 10.1111/1556-4029.15623
doi:
Types de publication
Case Reports
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Informations de copyright
© 2024 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.
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