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Case Reports
. 2023 Dec:74:197.e5-197.e7.
doi: 10.1016/j.ajem.2023.09.055. Epub 2023 Oct 2.

Taking the bait: Strychnine poisoning

Jeremy Hardin  1 , Henrik Galust  2 , Alexandra Bensel  3 , Shane Bierly  4 , Justin Seltzer  5 , Nathan Friedman  6 , Richard F Clark  7 , Colleen Campbell  8
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Free article
Case Reports

Taking the bait: Strychnine poisoning

Jeremy Hardin et al. Am J Emerg Med. 2023 Dec.
Free article

Abstract

A 48-year-old male intentionally ingested "gopher killer" containing strychnine as a, suicide attempt. He rapidly developed generalized muscle spasms with opisthotonos followed by cardiovascular collapse. He was resuscitated, treated with 24 h of, neuromuscular paralysis, and was discharged on hospital day 10 without sequelae. A blood strychnine concentration obtained five hours post ingestion was 2.2 mg/L. Strychnine poisoning is exceedingly rare in the modern United States and this report contains a video recording of the classic exam findings.

Keywords: Gopher poison; Opisthotonos; Risus Sardonicus; Strychnine; Toxicology; Trismus.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest All authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

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