Ingestion of potassium permanganate crystals by a three‐year‐old boy

Potassium permanganate poisoning--a rare cause of fatal self poisoning.

“…Drinking of milk or water may have a diluting and neutralising effect. 13 Early oesophagoscopy is useful to determine the extent of upper gastrointestinal injury. Useful investigations include liver and renal function tests, methaemoglobin level, serum amylase, and serum manganese.…”

“…The use of corticosteroids is controversial although it has been postulated that they minimised tissue oedema and the pathological inflammatory response in one patient. 13 Thus what appears to be a harmless topical agent can, when ingested in sufficient amounts, result in widespread systemic toxicity that can cause much morbidity and even mortality. …”

Potassium permanganate toxicity: A rare case with difficult airway management and hepatic damage

“…Although gastric lavage has been recommended by some, it is potentially hazardous as there is a danger of perforation. The effectiveness of activated charcoal[ 9 ] is not known, thus its administration is controversial. Indeed, there has been a documented case of fatal poisoning when charcoal was mistaken for KMnO 4 .…”

“…[ 10 ] Drinking of milk or water may have a diluting and neutralizing effect. [ 9 ] Early esophagoscopy is useful to determine the extent of upper GI injury, preferably with in 24 h.[ 7 ] Korkut et al . reported case of KMnO 4 ingestion, which stuck at the posterior wall of the gastric corpus leading to necrotic area and bleeding on endoscopic removal with forcep.…”

Suicidal ingestion of potassium permanganate

“…[8] The effectiveness of activated charcoal is not known in potassium permanganate poisoning, thus its administration is controversial. [9,10] For these reasons, nasogastric application and activated charcoal were not used in our patient. Emergency endoscopy is useful to assess the severity of damage and also to guide management.…”