title: Acute hyponatremia with seizure and mental change after oral sodium picosulfate/magnesium citrate bowel preparation.
abstract: Sodium picosulfate/magnesium citrate (Picolight Powder), which is used as a bowel preparation for the colon and the rectum, can cause a severe electrolyte imbalance like hyponatremia. When hyponatremia gets severe or occurs rapidly, it can lead to death due to associated complications. We have experienced a case of hyponatremia associated with seizure and loss of consciousness in a 76-year-old woman, who took sodium picosulfate/magnesium citrate as a bowel preparation for colonoscopy. She was taking thiazide and synthroid for the treatment of hypertension and hypothyroidism, respectively, and she had other underlying medical conditions such as a history of seizure and dementia. Following the diagnosis of hyponatremia, we used an intravenous injection of 3% NaCl to normalize the sodium level in her serum, and her associated symptoms soon disappeared.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Wallace Memorial Baptist Hospital, Busan, Korea.
authors.forename: Young Sun
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Wallace Memorial Baptist Hospital, Busan, Korea.
authors.forename: Kyung Min
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Nam
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Wallace Memorial Baptist Hospital, Busan, Korea.
authors.forename: Jang Ho
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Wallace Memorial Baptist Hospital, Busan, Korea.
authors.forename: Sang Hwan
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Byun
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Wallace Memorial Baptist Hospital, Busan, Korea.
authors.forename: Jin Suck
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Ryu
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Wallace Memorial Baptist Hospital, Busan, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyun Ju
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Kim
keywords: Bowel preparation; Colonoscopy; Hyponatremia; Picosulfate sodium; Seizures