TY - JOUR A2 - Oliveira, Ricardo AU - Diaz, Alex AU - Sharma, Surit PY - 2017 DA - 2017/12/19 TI - A Case of a 34-Year-Old Female with Acute Hypoxemic Respiratory Failure and Proximal Muscle Weakness SP - 7941715 VL - 2017 AB - Wound associated botulism is an unusual presentation. Early detection of this potentially life-threatening illness can significantly shorten length of hospital stay and improve prognosis. We present a case of a 34-year-old female with a history of heroin abuse who presented to the ED with acute respiratory failure, diplopia, and proximal muscle weakness. There was early concern for wound botulism as the instigating process. After discussion with the CDC, she was given equine serum heptavalent botulism antitoxin. Laboratory analysis later confirmed our suspicion. Symptoms improved and the patient was liberated from mechanical ventilation on day 14 and discharged from the hospital on day 23. SN - 2090-6420 UR - https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/7941715 DO - 10.1155/2017/7941715 JF - Case Reports in Critical Care PB - Hindawi KW - ER -