Cocaine Intoxication: Hyperpyrexia, Rhabdomyolysis and Acute Renal Failure

Abstract

Cocaine has become the recreational drug of abuse of the eighties. The prevalence of cocaine has been manifesting increases in intoxications and poisonings. Acute overdoses have been associated with hyperthermia, agitation, paranoid ideation, status epilepticus, ventricular fibrillation, ventricular tachycardia, myocardial infarction, coma, and death. This is the first reported case of cocaine intoxication resulting in severe hyperthermia, bizarre behavior, rhabdomyolysis, and acute renal failure. Treatment consisted of cooling via iced intravenous fluids, nasogastric lavage with ice water, and benzodiazepine sedation. To our knowledge, there is no case report which supports the allusions that cocaine intoxication may cause rhabdomyolysis and acute renal failure.