The Claim

In a 44-year-old man with severe alcohol use disorder, concurrent ingestion of isopropyl alcohol and alcoholic ketoacidosis resulted in severe anion gap metabolic acidosis with an osmolar gap of 37.1 mOsm/kg, elevated acetone (62 mg/dL), and isopropanol (21 mg/dL), which resolved rapidly after hemodialysis.

Source: Severe Anion Gap Metabolic Acidosis From Isopropyl Alcohol and Alcoholic Ketoacidosis: A Diagnostic Challenge

What the research says

Supports is higher

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Supports
28score
Challenges
0score

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Description
1 study reviewed
In plain English

A man with severe alcohol use disorder developed a severe metabolic acidosis with elevated levels of acetone and isopropanol after consuming isopropyl alcohol alongside alcohol, and this condition was rapidly reversed by hemodialysis.

See the scientific wording

In a 44-year-old man with severe alcohol use disorder, concurrent ingestion of isopropyl alcohol and alcoholic ketoacidosis produced a severe anion gap metabolic acidosis with an osmolar gap of 37.1 mOsm/kg, elevated acetone (62 mg/dL), and isopropanol (21 mg/dL), which resolved rapidly after hemodialysis, demonstrating that the combination of these two metabolic disturbances can lead to an unusually severe and atypical acid-base disorder.

Why this might work

A person who drinks alcohol heavily and then swallows rubbing alcohol has both toxins in the blood. The liver turns the rubbing alcohol into acetone, which builds up because the liver and kidneys are damaged from long-term drinking. This acetone adds to the ketones already made from alcohol withdrawal, making the blood extremely acidic. The rubbing alcohol itself also floats in the blood, raising the osmolar gap. Dialysis removes both the acetone and the rubbing alcohol, quickly fixing the acidosis.

Verified mechanismbased on 1 study

What the research says

1 study
  1. Study: Severe Anion Gap Metabolic Acidosis From Isopropyl Alcohol and Alcoholic Ketoacidosis: A Diagnostic Challenge

    A man who drank too much alcohol for a long time also accidentally drank rubbing alcohol, which made his blood extremely acidic. Doctors found the toxins in his blood and cleaned them out with dialysis, and he got better quickly. The study proves this rare and dangerous combo can happen.

Score breakdown, mechanism chain, raw evidence, ideal studies needed & 1 supporting studies

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