Document Type
Article
Abstract
Drug-induced neurotoxicity is a rare adverse reaction associated with ertapenem. Encephalopathy is a type of neurotoxicity that is defined as a diffuse disease of the brain that alters brain function or structure. We report a patient with normal renal function who developed ertapenem-induced encephalopathy manifesting as altered mental status, hallucinations, and dystonic symptoms. The patient’s symptoms improved dramatically following ertapenem discontinuation, consistent with case reports describing ertapenem neurotoxicity in renal dysfunction. Since clinical evidence strongly suggested ertapenem causality, we utilized the Naranjo Scale to estimate the probability of an adverse drug reaction to ertapenem. Our patient received a Naranjo Scale score of 7, suggesting a probable adverse drug reaction, with a reasonable temporal sequence to support our conclusion.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
Publication Info
Published in Journal of Investigative Medicine High Impact Case Reports, Volume 5, Issue 1, 2017.
Rights
© 2017 American Federation for Medical Research
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License (http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).
APA Citation
Sutton, S. S., Jumper, M., Cook, S., Edun, B., & Wyatt, M. D. (2017). Ertapenem-induced encephalopathy in a patient with normal renal function. Journal of Investigative Medicine High Impact Case Reports, 5(1), 232470961668937.