Citation

Suchard JR, Grotsky TA. West. J. Emerg. Med. 2008; 9(3): 160-164.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, California Chapter of the American Academy of Emergency Medicine)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

19561734

PMCID

PMC2672258

Abstract

A 29-year-old man with no history of diabetes ingested over 60 grams of metformin in a suicide attempt. He presented to the emergency department with acute renal insufficiency, severe lactic acidosis, and rapidly-progressive hyperglycemia. The patient's peak serum glucose level of 707 mg/dL is the highest yet reported in a case of metformin toxicity. Treatment included sodium bicarbonate infusion and hemodialysis, but the patient suffered several cardiac arrests with pulseless electrical activity and ultimately expired 25 hours after the ingestion.

Language: en