Severe hypernatremia and gastric dilation from chronic eating disorder and intentional salt ingestion.
| Author | |
|---|---|
| Abstract | 
   :  
              We report the case of a 21-year-old female presenting with severe hypernatremia and a gastric outlet obstruction due to chronic purging behavior with salt water flushes. She presented obtunded following emesis and a witnessed seizure. She was found to have a corrected sodium level of 177 mmol/L. Following initial intubation and resuscitation, her CT imaging showed massive gastric dilation with high-density material in the gastric lumen. After orogastric flushing was unsuccessful and the patient's abdominal distention worsened, she was managed surgically and found to have a salt bezoar leading to bowel ischemia and perforation. This case details the complications and management of acute hypernatremia and gastric outlet obstruction in an otherwise healthy, young female. In a society where eating disorders are pervasive, Emergency Medicine physicians should be familiar with dangerous dietary behaviors as well as the management of their rare, but potentially life-threatening, complications.  | 
        
| Year of Publication | 
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              2020 
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| Journal | 
   :  
              The American journal of emergency medicine 
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| Volume | 
   :  
              38 
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| Issue | 
   :  
              8 
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| Number of Pages | 
   :  
              1700.e1-1700.e3 
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| ISSN Number | 
   :  
              0735-6757 
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| URL | 
   :  
              https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0735-6757(20)30312-0 
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| DOI | 
   :  
              10.1016/j.ajem.2020.04.082 
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| Short Title | 
   :  
              Am J Emerg Med 
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