Ingestion of Portland Cement

Kyung Ho Kim; Jang Young Lee; Seong Eun Yang; Won Suk Lee; Won Young Sung; Sang Won Seo; Jung Il Yang

doi:10.1016/j.jemermed.2014.12.060

Ingestion of Portland Cement

J Emerg Med. 2015 Jul;49(1):e19-21. doi: 10.1016/j.jemermed.2014.12.060. Epub 2015 Mar 19.

Authors

Kyung Ho Kim¹, Jang Young Lee¹, Seong Eun Yang², Won Suk Lee¹, Won Young Sung¹, Sang Won Seo¹, Jung Il Yang¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Emergency Medicine, College of Medicine, Eulji University, Daejeon, Republic of Korea.
² Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Eulji University, Daejeon, Republic of Korea.

PMID: 25797935
DOI: 10.1016/j.jemermed.2014.12.060

Abstract

Background: The common toxicities of cement are allergic dermatitis, abrasions, and chemical burns, but reports of cement ingestion are rare. In this study, we report a case of successful treatment of cement ingestion using emergency gastrointestinal endoscopy.

Case report: An 83-year-old female was admitted to the emergency department with altered mental state and abdominal pain. We assumed that she ingested cement based on her medical history and radiologic examination. A previous report recommended surgical removal with gastric lavage. However, we thought that wet cement is highly alkaline, and gastric lavage is contraindicated. We performed emergency gastrointestinal endoscopy, instead of gastric lavage. WHY SHOULD AN EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN BE AWARE OF THIS?: If a patient ingests cement, the recommendation is to check the status of the upper gastrointestinal tract and remove the cement by emergency gastrointestinal endoscopy as soon as possible.

Keywords: cement; endoscopy; gastrointestinal; toxicity.

Publication types

Case Reports

MeSH terms

Aged, 80 and over
Construction Materials / poisoning*
Contraindications
Eating
Endoscopy, Gastrointestinal*
Female
Gastric Lavage
Humans
Suction