TY - JOUR
T1 - Oxytocin and Water Intoxication
AU - Whalley, Peggy J.
AU - Pritchard, Jack A.
PY - 1963/11/9
Y1 - 1963/11/9
N2 - INTRAVENOUS INFUSIONS of dilute solutions of oxytocin are widely used in obstetrics and gynecology. While it is generally recognized that oxytocin therapy may sometimes endanger mother and fetus by evoking intense myometrial contractions, it is less well appreciated that oxytocin can, under certain circumstances, cause another serious complication, namely, water intoxication. Within a period of 8 months we observed two puerperal women in whom water intoxication developed severe enough to result in convulsions and coma. Both had been delivered very recently and both had received oxytocin plus relatively large volumes of electrolyte-free aqueous fluid intravenously. These two cases as well as controlled experiments illustrating the antidiuretic property of oxytocin will be described.
AB - INTRAVENOUS INFUSIONS of dilute solutions of oxytocin are widely used in obstetrics and gynecology. While it is generally recognized that oxytocin therapy may sometimes endanger mother and fetus by evoking intense myometrial contractions, it is less well appreciated that oxytocin can, under certain circumstances, cause another serious complication, namely, water intoxication. Within a period of 8 months we observed two puerperal women in whom water intoxication developed severe enough to result in convulsions and coma. Both had been delivered very recently and both had received oxytocin plus relatively large volumes of electrolyte-free aqueous fluid intravenously. These two cases as well as controlled experiments illustrating the antidiuretic property of oxytocin will be described.
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U2 - 10.1001/jama.1963.63710060047021d
DO - 10.1001/jama.1963.63710060047021d
M3 - Article
C2 - 14059043
AN - SCOPUS:0041012620
SN - 0098-7484
VL - 186
SP - 601
EP - 603
JO - JAMA - Journal of the American Medical Association
JF - JAMA - Journal of the American Medical Association
IS - 6
ER -