Abstract
An 89-year-old woman with a history of receiving treatment for hypertension, dyslipidemia, and osteoporosis consulted her general practitioner because of a productive cough. She was diagnosed with a respiratory infection and tosufloxacin was prescribed. After 4 days, the patient was transferred to our hospital because of impaired consciousness and a blood glucose level of 32 mg/dL. Intravenous dextrose was immediately administered after which she quickly regained consciousness. The patient was not on any antidiabetic treatment; therefore, we suspected that the hypoglycemia was caused by tosufloxacin. After tosufloxacin was discontinued, the patient did not have any recurrence of hypoglycemia.
Although several case reports of hypoglycemia caused by fluoroquinolones have been published, there are few reports on hypoglycemia associated with tosufloxacin use. Furthermore, hypoglycemia secondary to fluoroquinolones may be more common in patients with diabetes (especially if treated with hypoglycemic agents); however, our patient had no history of diabetes or treatment with hypoglycemic agents. Clinicians should be aware of the risk of hypoglycemia in patients treated with quinolones, even in non-diabetic patients.
