Suicide Attempt by Intravenous Potassium Self-Poisoning:

Copyright © 2012 Florent Battefort et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Introduction. Overdose of potassium is not as frequently encountered in clinical practice as hyperkalaemia due to acute or chronic renal disease. However, potassium overdoses leading to serious consequences do occur. Case Presentation. A 20-year-old nurse student presented with a cardiac arrest with asystole rhythm. Beside the patient were found four 50-mL syringes and empty vials of potassium chloride (20mL, 10%). After initial resuscitation with epinephrine, 125mL of a 4.2 % intravenous solution of sodium bicarbonate were injected which resulted in the recovery of an effective cardiac activity. The patient recovered without sequelae