Upper Gastrointestinal Bleeding Secondary to Sodium Polystyrene Sulfonate Use: A Rare Adverse Effect of Commonly Prescribed Treatment

We report a case of a 62-year-old man who was brought in by emergency medical services after a fall and change in mental status. He was found to have severe hyperkalemia, acute kidney injury, and rhabdomyolysis. The hyperkalemia was treated with sodium polystyrene sulfonate (SPS). During hospitaliza...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Hamzah Shariff, Shiva Naidoo, Ghazal Ghafari, Hongjie Li, Manisha Devi, Kishore Kumar
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2024-01-01
Series:Case Reports in Gastrointestinal Medicine
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2024/6004323
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Summary:We report a case of a 62-year-old man who was brought in by emergency medical services after a fall and change in mental status. He was found to have severe hyperkalemia, acute kidney injury, and rhabdomyolysis. The hyperkalemia was treated with sodium polystyrene sulfonate (SPS). During hospitalization, he witnessed having black tarry stools along with a significant drop in hemoglobin. Endoscopic evaluation demonstrated nonbleeding large diffuse gastric ulcers with stigmata of recent bleeding, and ulcer biopsy revealed findings consistent with SPS-induced gastric ulceration. No other source of bleeding was localized, suggesting acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding due to SPS mucosal injury.
ISSN:2090-6536