A rare case report of heavy dose colchicine induced acute kidney injury

BACKGROUND: Colchicine is a natural alkaloid that is mainly used for the treatment of inflammatory diseases. Effective and toxic doses are very similar, but case reports of higher colchicine doses inducing acute toxicosis is rare. CASE PRESENTATION: A 19-year-old woman was sent to the emergency room for taking 80 colchicine tablets (0.5 mg per tablet) 44 h previously. The main physical symptom was abdominal pain. Following ingestion, the patient suffered multi-system failure including renal, respiratory, circulatory, and digestive. Continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) and other treatment measures were used to remove metabolic wastes and poisons, and to treat other complications. Renal function was restored after a series of treatments. CONCLUSION: We report a case of an acute kidney injury induced by an overdose of colchicine. CRRT and a series of related treatments were beneficial for the treatment of colchicine poisoning. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s40360-018-0260-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.