PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Caroline Boonekamp
AU  - François Voruz
AU  - Christophe Fehlmann
TI  - Accidental aspiration of a solid tablet of sodium hypochlorite
AID  - 10.1136/bcr-2018-224213
DP  - 2018 Aug 17
TA  - BMJ Case Reports
PG  - bcr-2018-224213
VI  - 2018
4099  - http://casereports.bmj.com/content/2018/bcr-2018-224213.short
4100  - http://casereports.bmj.com/content/2018/bcr-2018-224213.full
AB  - Sodium hypochlorite is a corrosive, highly alkaline (pka=7.52) household product. Ingestion of sodium hypochlorite liquid is common, showing toxicity on the oesophagus and stomach. Nevertheless, cases of sodium hypochlorite ingestions in pellet are rare and the management of them is unknown. We report the case of a 65-year-old man who accidentally swallowed a bleach tablet of 3.5 g. Six hours later, the patient developed an aphonia associated with dysponea stage IV, motivating a nasofibroscopy showing glottis and supraglottic necrosis and oedema for which the patient received intravenous steroids, was intubated and then underwent a tracheotomy. After 2 weeks under tracheotomy, local evolution was favourable allowing a removal of the cannula and a return back home.