Naphthalene Poisoning-A Case Report

Naphthalene, also known as naphthalin or tar camphor, is the prime ingredient of moth balls which has been used widely as an industrial and household chemical. However, poisoning with the same, intentional or accidental, is rare. We report a case of a 41 year old patient who was admitted to our hospital with dark cola colored urine and constipation as a result of ingestion of 5 moth balls as a suicidal attempt. The treatment of this kind of poisoning is methylene blue, vitamin c and exchange transfusion. The use of methylene blue and vitamin c both can be extremely dangerous if patient is G6pd deficient. The merit of this case lies in the management of this difficult and rare poisoning in the background of G6pd deficiency.