Accidental Ingestion of Muriatic Acid in an Elderly: A Case Report

Muriatic acid is an aqueous hydrogen chloride solution and is considered strong and highly corrosive. It is widely used in household cleaning agents such as toilet bowl cleaners, bathroom tile cleaners and also used for unclogging drains as well as cleaning tough stains. Although accidental poisoning due to consumption of household poisons are more commonly reported in children, it is not uncommon in old age. When exposed, the geriatric age group have a higher risk of mortality because of associated comorbidities. We report a case of accidental ingestion of floor cleaning acid in a 73-year-old female, who presented to the Emergency Medicine department within 30 minutes of consumption in an unresponsive state. She expired 15 hours later. Autopsy features and histopathological changes seen in the involved organs are presented and discussed. This case reiterates the need for proper storage of household items containing corrosive agents to prevent inadvertent loss of life. Copyright (C) 2022, Asian Association for Frailty and Sarcopenia and Taiwan Association for Integrated Care. Published by Full Universe Integrated Marketing Limited.