Dødelig udgang efter indtag af æselagurk

In this case report, an 83-year-old woman with dementia was admitted to hospital with vomiting and diarrhoea. Her medical history included dementia, atrial fibrillation and seizures. She had accidentally ingested a kind of “fruit”, which was used as part of a flower decoration in her room. When admitted, she was in hypovolaemic shock and hypoxic. The ingested “fruit” was identified as squirting cucumber: Ecballium elaterium, which is known to cause vomiting and diarrhea, according to the Danish poison centre. The patient’s condition deteriorated despite intravenously given fluid and antibiotic treatment for a suspected aspiration pneumonia. She died two hours after admission.