Rectal quinine for malaria: Risk of hypoglycaemia may be higher by rectal route

doi:10.1136/bmj.332.7551.1216-a

BMJ 2006;332:1216 (20 May), doi:10.1136/bmj.332.7551.1216-a

Letter

Rectal quinine for malaria

Risk of hypoglycaemia may be higher by rectal route

The first 100% of the full text of this article appears below.

EDITOR—The study by Barennes et al shows that quininegiven by the rectal route has an acceptable safety profile andcould be used in the early management of moderately severe malariain children.¹ But hypoglycaemia is a common side effect of quininetherapy, especially in children. The risk of hypoglycaemia istheoretically higher in patients receiving rectal quinine asthe drug concentrations may be higher in the portal circulation,stimulating pancreatic $beta$ cell insulin secretion directly.

Prasanta Padhan, senior resident in internal medicine

Jipmer, Pondicherry 605 006, India prasanta.padhan@gmail.com

Competing interests: None declared.

Barennes H, Balima-Koussoubé T, Nagot N, Charpentier JC, Pussard E. Safety and efficacy of rectal compared with intramuscular quinine for the early treatment of moderately severe malaria in children: randomised clinical trial. BMJ 2006;332: 1055-9. (6 May.)[Abstract/Free Full Text]

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Safety and efficacy of rectal compared with intramuscular quinine for the early treatment of moderately severe malaria in children: randomised clinical trial: Hubert Barennes, Tatiana Balima-Koussoubé, Nicolas Nagot, Jean-Christophe Charpentier, and Eric Pussard
BMJ 2006 332: 1055-1059. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]