Suicide Attempt by Intravenous Potassium Self-Poisoning: A Case Report

• Main Authors: Florent Battefort, Emilie Dehours, Baptiste Vallé, Ahmed Hamdaoui, Vincent Bounes, Jean-Louis Ducassé
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hindawi Limited 2012-01-01
• Series: Case Reports in Emergency Medicine
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2012/323818

Introduction. Overdose of potassium is not as frequently encountered in clinical practice as hyperkalaemia due to acute or chronic renal disease. However, potassium overdoses leading to serious consequences do occur. Case Presentation. A 20-year-old nurse student presented with a cardiac arrest with asystole rhythm. Beside the patient were found four 50-mL syringes and empty vials of potassium chloride (20 mL, 10%). After initial resuscitation with epinephrine, 125 mL of a 4.2% intravenous solution of sodium bicarbonate were injected which resulted in the recovery of an effective cardiac activity. The patient recovered without sequelae. Conclusion. The difficulty in this case was to recognize the potassium poisoning. The advanced resuscitation with the use of a specific treatment helped to resuscitate the patient.