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FATAL SALT POISONING DUE TO GASTRIC LAVAGE WITH HYPERTONIC SALINE
Author(s) -
Carter Rodney F.,
Fotheringham Brian J.
Publication year - 1971
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1971.tb87695.x
Subject(s) - gastric lavage , hypertonic saline , saline , tonicity , medicine , toxicity , stomach , pathological , anesthesia
Two children who swallowed harmless amounts of toxic substances received a gastric lavage with hypertonic saline and died several hours later from acute salt poisoning. The clinical and pathological features, typical of this condition, are presented in detail. The relatively high toxicity of ingested salt Is discussed and shown to prohibit the use of hypertonic saline for gastric lavage and to throw doubt on its use even as an emetic.