Premium
Complete cure of urinary and faecal incontinence after intravenous vitamin B 12 therapy in a patient with post‐gastrectomy megaloblastic anaemia
Author(s) -
KURABAYASHI H.,
KUBOTA K.,
KAWADA E.,
TAMURA K.,
TAMURA J.,
SHIRAKURA T.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
journal of internal medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.625
H-Index - 160
eISSN - 1365-2796
pISSN - 0954-6820
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2796.1992.tb00541.x
Subject(s) - medicine , urinary system , vitamin , peripheral neuropathy , surgery , gastrectomy , urinary incontinence , gastroenterology , intramuscular injection , endocrinology , diabetes mellitus , cancer
Abstract. The case of a 59‐year‐old Japanese woman with post‐gastrectomy megaloblastic anaemia having urinary and faecal incontinence and paraesthesia in four extremities is described. While the haematological abnormalities were improved by administration of a total dose of 17 mg of intramuscular mecobalamin, the neurological abnormalities remained unchanged. Five months later, a total dose of 7.5 mg of mecobalamin was injected intravenously over a period of 5 weeks, although the serum level of vitamin B 12 was > 1180 pmol l −1 . Immediately after initiation of the therapy, the urinary and faecal incontinence were gradually improved, and were completely cured within 2 months. The peripheral neuropathy was also ameliorated. The effectiveness of intravenous vitamin B 12 injection for the neurological abnormalities due to vitamin B 12 deficiency is emphasized.