A case of acute strychnine poisoning

In most severe cases of strychnine poisoning, the patient dies before reaching the hospital. This report describes the treatment and successful outcome of a patient who had taken a dose of strychnine that would normally be fatal. A 28-y-old man was admitted 2 h after ingestion of 1 to 1.5 g of strychnine. He had a Glasgow Coma Score of 14/15 and was severely agitated and in mild respiratory distress; blood pressure was 90/60 mmHg, pulse 110/min, and peripheral pulses weak. He had generalized hyperactive reflexes and had several generalized tonic-clonic convulsions in the emergency department. Treatment consisted of gastric lavage with water, oral administration of activated charcoal and sorbitol solution, continuous intravenous administration of midazolam and then sodium thiopental, furosemide, sodium bicarbonate and hemodialysis for acute renal failure. His clinical course included respiratory distress, agitation, generalized tonic-clonic convulsions, hyperactivity, oliguria and acute tubular necrosis prior to recovery in 23 days. This patient ingested what would normally be a fatal amount of strychnine, had signs and symptoms of severe toxicity and recovered, suggesting that with aggressive supportive care patients may have favorable outcomes.