Nausea, Vomiting, and Weight Loss in a Young Adult Patient With a History of a Gunshot Wound.

Nausea, Vomiting, and Weight Loss in a Young Adult Patient With a History of a Gunshot Wound.

James Jessica; Fitzgibbon James; Blackford Martha

Pediatric emergency care

2016

2016-09

Assessing victims of gunshot wounds with retained bullets/bullet fragments for lead toxicity is not always considered until the patient develops signs and symptoms of toxicity. We discuss the case of a 19-year-old young man who received a diagnosis of chronic lead toxicity (serum lead concentration 51 mug/dL) 5 weeks after a hunting accident. Extensive wound debridement occurred following the accident; however, lead toxicity was not diagnosed until after his fourth emergency department visit. Oral chelation therapy was required for the management of his lead toxicity.

*Weight Loss; Chelation Therapy – Methods; Chelation Therapy/methods; Debridement; Foreign Bodies – Complications; Foreign Bodies/*complications; Gunshot – Complications; Gunshot/*complications; Humans; Lead Poisoning – Diagnosis; Lead Poisoning – Etiology; Lead Poisoning – Therapy; Lead Poisoning/*diagnosis/etiology/therapy; Male; Nausea – Etiology; Nausea/*etiology; Vomiting – Etiology; Vomiting/*etiology; Weight Loss; Wounds; Young Adult

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616–618

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