A 3-year-old female child was brought with alleged history of consumption of rat poison (white phosphorus) 6 days prior to admission. She was in stage I hepatic encephalopathy with coagulopathy. She was managed symptomatically but did not respond and worsened to stage III hepatic encephalopathy. In view of progressive deterioration, a liver transplantation was planned. However, before embarking on that, a trial of N-acetylcysteine was given, following which the patient improved dramatically.
White phosphorus, Hepatic failure, N-acetylcysteine
