TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2002//
TI  - Mercuric oxide poisoning treated with whole-bowel irrigation and chelation therapy
JO  - Annals of emergency medicine
A1  - Ly, Binh T.
A1  - Williams, Saralyn R.
A1  - Clark, Richard F.
SP  - 312
EP  - 315
VL  - 39
IS  - 3
N2  - Most reported cases of inorganic mercury poisoning are from mercuric chloride. We report a case of mercuric oxide (HgO) powder ingestion. A 31-year-old man presented to an emergency department after ingestion of approximately 40 g of HgO. Soon after ingestion, he developed nausea, vomiting, and abdominal cramping. Abdominal radiograph revealed densely radiopaque material in the stomach. Gastrointestinal decontamination was accomplished with activated charcoal and whole-bowel irrigation with polyethylene glycol solution (Golytely) for 24 hours until repeat abdominal radiographs no longer demonstrated the substance in the gastrointestinal tract. He was also chelated with British anti-Lewisite for 5 days, followed by succimer for 10 days. He had markedly elevated urine and blood mercury levels after ingestion, but except for a mildly depressed serum bicarbonate (19 mEq/L), his chemistry results remained normal including blood urea nitrogen and creatinine. He had an uncomplicated hospital course and remained asymptomatic at 6 months postingestion. Despite elevated urine and blood mercury levels after ingestion of HgO, our patient did not develop the end-organ toxicity typical of inorganic mercury poisoning.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0196-0644
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1067/mem.2002.119508
ID  - ref1
ER  -