Ammonium hydroxide poisoning

Injury	Disease	Nutrition	Poison

Symptoms	Surgery	Test	Special Topic

Overview

Symptoms

Treatment

Ammonium hydroxide poisoning

Alternative Names:

Aqueous - ammonia

Home Treatment:

DO NOT make the person throw up.

If ammonium hydroxide is on the skin or in the eyes, flush with lots of water for at least 15 minutes.

If the person swallowed ammonium hydroxide, immediately give milk or water. Fruit juices may also be given.

If the person breathed in fumes, immediately move the patient to fresh air.

Before Calling Emergency:

Determine the following information:

The patient's age, weight, and condition
The name of the product (ingredients and strengths, if known)
The time it was swallowed
The amount swallowed

Poison Control, or a local emergency number:

The National Poison Control Center (1-800-222-1222) can be called from anywhere in the United States. This national hotline number will let you talk to experts in poisoning. They will give you further instructions.

This is a free and confidential service. All local poison control centers in the U.S. use this national number. You should call if you have any questions about poisoning or poison prevention. It does NOT need to be an emergency. You can call for any reason, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

What to expect at the emergency room:

The health care provider will measure and monitor the patient's vital signs, including temperature, pulse, breathing rate, and blood pressure.

The patient may receive:

Fluids
Medicines to treat symptoms
Medicine to reverse the effect of the poison (an antidote)
Breathing assistance
Endoscopy
Bronchoscopy
Irrigation (washing of the skin)
Skin debridement (surgical removal of burned skin)

Some patients may be admitted to the hospital.

Expectations (prognosis):

Survival past 48 hours usually indicates recovery will occur. If a chemical burn occurred in the eye, permanent blindness will probably result.

How well a patient does depends on the strength of the chemical and how fast the poison was diluted and neutralized. Extensive damage to the mouth, throat, eyes, lungs, esophagus, nose, and stomach are possible.

The ultimate outcome depends on the extent of this damage. Damage continues to occur to the esophagus and stomach for several weeks after the poison was swallowed, and death may occur as long as a month later.

Review Date: 3/2/2006
Reviewed By: Janeen R. Azare, PhD, MSPH, Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan-KetteringCancer Center, New York, NY. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.

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