Hypokalaemic quadriparesis following torsemide and spironolactone use
Upinder Kaur1, Sankha Shubhra Chakrabarti2, Ashis Kumar Choudhury3
1Department of Pharmacology, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India.
The National Medical Journal of India
|August 10, 2019
Abstract:
Mild hypokalaemia is a common electrolyte abnormality following therapeutic doses of diuretics such as torsemide. If undiagnosed and untreated, hypokalaemia progresses and smooth muscle, skeletal muscle and the heart are affected. Potassium-sparing diuretics such as spironolactone are commonly added to loop diuretics to prevent symptomatic hypokalaemia. We present a patient with moderate hypokal-aemia associated with the use of torsemide and spironolactone, resulting in quadriparesis, hospitalization and electrophysio-logical abnormalities.


