Toxic Ingestion/Ethylene Glycol Ingestion

A retrospective analysis of glycol and toxic alcohol ingestion: utility of anion and osmolal gaps

BACKGROUND Patients ingesting ethylene glycol, isopropanol, methanol, and propylene glycol ('toxic alcohols') often present with non-specific signs and symptoms. Definitive diagnosis of toxic alcohols has traditionally been by gas chromatography (GC), a technique not commonly performed on-site in hospital clinical laboratories. The objectives of this retrospective study were: 1) to assess the d...

Acute ethylene glycol poisoning after intentional ingestion

Background: We describe a case of acute ethylene glycol poisoning following ingestion of antifreeze agent in which serum ethylene glycol and anion gap were serially measured. Patients: A 66-year old man was hospitalized after intentional ingestion of automotive antifreeze. Upon admission, vital signs, mental status, and neurological functions were normal. Initial laboratory tests revealed no se...

Propylene Glycol Poisoning From Excess Whiskey Ingestion

Ingestion of toxic substances by children.

EPIDEMIOLOGY • American Association of Poison Control Centers’ database reports ∼ 1 million exposures to poisonings each year in children < 6 years of age • Substances most available to children include those items in the home, such as cosmetics, cleaning products, analgesics, plants, cough medicine, foreign bodies, topical agents, pesticides, vitamins and hydrocarbons • Increased risk of death...

Severe Poisoning After Accidental Pediatric Ingestion of Glycol Ethers

Human glycol ether poisonings are sparsely reported in the medical literature. We describe a healthy 22-month-old boy who accidentally drank up to 330 mL of brake fluid containing a 75% bleed of various glycol ethers (5%–50% polyethylene glycol monomethyl ether, 15%– 40% triethylene glycol monoethyl ether, 1%–30% triethylene glycol monomethyl ether, 1%–25% triethylene glycol monobutyl ether, 1%...