Neurological complications associated with parenteral treatment: Central pontine myelinolysis and Wernicke's encephalopathy

Abstract

Infusion of intravenous fluids is part of the routine management of patients presenting with severe metabolic and electrolyte derangements. Usually such treatment is free of neurological complications, but under certain circumstances these patients may develop two potentially serious disorders—namely, central pontine myelinolysis and Wernicke's encephalopathy.1 Our recent experience of three such patients, two of whom had both central pontine myelinolysis and Wernicke's encephalopathy while the third had central pontine myelinolysis alone, suggests that these conditions may be more common than is generally thought. We report on these patients to highlight the circumstances in which these two complications arose as both may be prevented by timely intervention. © 1986, British Medical Journal Publishing Group. All rights reserved.