A Rare Complication of Antibiotic (Piperacillin/Tazobactam) Therapy: Resistant Hypokalemia

Abstract

Piperacillin/tazobactam is a commonly used antibiotic with tolerable side effects and broad antimicrobial activity in general practice. Here in we report a patient with resistant and severe hypokalemia induced by piperacillin/tazobactam. There were no other underlying renal or hepatic illness and other causes of hypokalemia. When the treatment was stopped, hypokalemia resolved immediately without potassium replacement. We also evaluated the causality of the case report. We concluded this causality as probable/likely category according to WHO-UMC Causality Categories. We concluded that piperacillin/tazobactam may be cause severe hypokalemia and we must be careful to monitor of serum electrolytes especially potassium during antibiotic treatment.




J Med Cases. 2012;3(6):355-357
doi: https://doi.org/10.4021/jmc799w