  |
|
 |
|
Case Report
| ||||||
| Massive and sustain potassium therapy saves life in barium chloride intoxication: A case report | ||||||
| Mohy Kadri El Masry1, Walaa Gomaa Abdelhamid2, Salma Ibrahim Abdelkader2, Sara Ahmad Elmorsi3, Sara Atef Abdelaziz3 | ||||||
|
1Professor, Poison Control Center-Forensic Medicine and Clinical Toxicology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.
2Assistant Lecturer, Poison Control Center- Forensic Medicine and Clinical Toxicology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt. 3Resident, Poison Control Center-Forensic Medicine and Clinical Toxicology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt. | ||||||
| ||||||
|
[HTML Full Text]
[PDF Full Text]
[Print This Article]
[Similar article in Pumed] [Similar article in Google Scholar] 
|
| How to cite this article: |
| El Masry MK, Abdelhamid WG, Abdelkader SI, Elmorsi SA, Abdelaziz SA. Massive and sustain potassium therapy saves life in barium chloride intoxication: A case report. International Journal of Case Reports and Images 2012;3(12):35–38. |
|
Abstract
|
|
Introduction:
Barium salts present real threat to patients if the radiocontrast material contains soluble barium contaminant as the chloride form which is one of the most soluble salts.
Case Report: A patient 37-year-old was given 40 g barium chloride as radiocontrast for gastro-esophageal reflux imaging. It was immediately followed with severe vomiting and hematemesis. Shock, ventricular tachycardia, severe flaccid paralysis, coma and severe hypokalemia followed within the first hour. The patient responded favorably to large infusion of IV potassium, reaching 40 mmol hourly for the first three hours. Potassium infusion was continued for the first four days of treatment. A total IV potassium infusion of 560 mmol was given in the first day. Abundant IV fluids infusion contributed to the correction of severe dehydration caused by vomiting and diarrhea. Prerenal failure and ischemic hepatitis secondary to shock improved with hemodynamic correction. Conclusion: Following barium poisoning, severe hypokalemia (1.2 mmol/L in this case) is responsible for ventricular tachycardia, shock, flaccid paralysis and respiratory failure. Large IV potassium infusion should continue for the first few days and is considered the principal therapeutic guideline in barium poisoning and the mainstay for the correction of almost all vital functions. | |
|
Keywords:
Barium poisoning, Hypokalemia, Ventricular tachycardia, Paralytic respiratory failure
| |
|
[HTML Full Text]
[PDF Full Text]
|
|
Author Contributions
Mohy Kadri El Masry – Conception and design, Analysis and interpretation of data, Drafting the article, Critical revision of the article, Final approval of the version to be published Walaa Gomaa Abdelhamid – Acquisition of data, Critical revision of the article, Final approval of the version to be published Salma Ibrahim Abdelkader – Acquisition of data, Critical revision of the article, Final approval of the version to be published Sara Ahmad ElMorsi – Acquisition of data, Critical revision of the article, Final approval of the version to be published Sara Atef Abdelaziz – Acquisition of data, Critical revision of the article, Final approval of the version to be published |
|
Guarantor of submission
The corresponding author is the guarantor of submission. |
|
Source of support
None |
|
Conflict of interest
Authors declare no conflict of interest. |
|
Copyright
© Mohy Kadri El Masry et al. 2012; This article is distributed the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any means provided the original authors and original publisher are properly credited. (Please see Copyright Policy for more information.) |
|
|