| Convulsion and Unconsciousness in Patient in Postoperative Hypomagnesemia. |
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Jae Won Choi, Young Mee Lee, Dong Soo Kim |
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Department of Anesthesiology, College of Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Korea. |
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| Abstract |
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Magnesium is the fourth most common cation in the human body and the cation in the second highest concentration intracellularly. It is essential for the activity of many enzymes and plays an important role in neurochemical transmission and muscular excitability. Hypomagnesemia is a much more frequent metabolic derangement than hypermagnesemia, and usually occurs as one component of a complex deficiency state, affecting many minerals, vitamins, and nutrients. We recently had a clinical experience of unexpected convulsion and unconsciousness in 67 year old female patient with hypomagnesemia (0.5 mEq/L) on the fourth postoperative day of the partial hepatectomy performed under the diagnosis of hepatoma. Fortunately she could afford to recover from the hypomagnesemic sign and symptom with an intravenous infusion of 5 grams of magnesium sulfate. We conclude that it is highly recommended to measure the pre and postoperative serum con-centration of magnesium especially in patients in intensive care. |
| Key Words:
Hypomagnesemia; Complication; Convulsion; Unconsciousness |
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