Idiopathic Partial Gangrene of the Breast

Our patient last ate at about 1100 h on the day of the accident and developed hypoglycaemic shock 18 h after injury. During this period, he had only 2 litres of dextrose saline infusion which is insufficient to maintain the blood sugar level after depletion of the glycogen reserves in the liver. The development of hypoglycaeniia in this patient 18 h after injury should be seen as a normal response to injury. In fact this patient would have certainly died of hypoglycaemic shock but for the timely administration of 50 ml of 50% glucose solution.