Acute Renal Failure after ingestion of Ethylene Glycol

Abstract

Ethylene glycol is a colorless, odorless, water- soluble chemical solvent with a wide variety of uses. It has no direct toxicities, but its metabolic deri- vatives are extremely toxic and have lethal effects. In suspected cases of ethylene glycol poisoning, immediate treatment of metabolic acidosis and ethyl alcohol therapy must be instituted. Without prompt effective treatment, both morbidity and mortality are very high. Incidence of ethylene glycol intoxication is very low in Korea. This is in contrast to its relatively frequent incidences reported in the Western literature. Because there has been no reported case in the Korean medical literature, we report a case of successfully treated acute renal failure due to ethylene glycol and a review of the literature.