Bromadiolone may cause severe acute kidney injury through severe disorder of coagulation: a case report

Abstract Background Bromadiolone is a wide-use long-acting anticoagulant rodenticide known to cause severe coagulation dysfunction. At present, there have been no detailed reports of acute kidney injury (AKI) resulting from bromadiolone poisoning. Case presentation A 27-year-old woman was admitted to the hospital due to severe coagulopathy and severe AKI. Coagulation test revealed a prothrombin time exceeding 120 s and an international normalized ratio (INR) greater than 10. Further examination for coagulation factors showed significantly reduced level of factors II, VII, IX and X, indicating a vitamin K deficiency. The AKI was non-oliguric and characterized by gross dysmorphic hematuria. Following the onset of the disease, the patient’s serum creatinine rose from 0.86 to 6.96 mg/dL. Suspecting anticoagulant rodenticide poisoning, plasma bromadiolone was identified at a concentration of 117 ng/mL via gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. All other potential causes of AKI were excluded, except for the presence of a horseshoe kidney. The patient’s kidney function fully recovered after the coagulopathy was corrected with high doses of vitamin K and plasma transfusion. At a follow-up 160 days post-discharge, the coagulation function had normalized, and the serum creatinine had returned to 0.51 mg/dL. Conclusion Bromadiolone can induce AKI through a severe and prolonged coagulation disorder. Kidney function can be restored within days following treatment with high-dose vitamin K1.