Common Misdiagnoses of Hypocalcemia

Hypocalcemia is the medical term for low calcium levels in the blood. Possible causes for hypocalcemia include sepsis, malignancy, acute pancreatitis, chronic disease such as cirrhosis or burns. Other possible causes are injury to the parathyroid gland that can occur during surgery or certain genetic diseases that lead to parathyroid hormone deficiency.

Symptoms of Hypocalcemia

In addition to low calcium in the blood, other symptoms of the condition include:

• Facial muscle spasms
• Tetany
• Muscle aches
• Painful muscle spasm of hands
• Painful muscle spasm of feet
• Facial grimacing
• Paresthesias
• Lip paresthesias
• Tongue paresthesias
• Finger paresthesias
• Foot paresthesias

These symptoms should alert a health care professional to the possibility of hypocalcemia.

Diagnoses of Hypocalcemia

Diagnosis of hypocalcemia involves diagnostic testing of both blood phosphate and blood calcium levels. Once the condition has been diagnosed, subsequent treatment will involve providing the following to the patient:

• Calcium supplements
• Vitamin D (especially if the condition is due to hypoparathyroidism)
• Intravenous calcium salts - in severe cases
• Magnesium - possibly used if the condition is caused by magnesium deficiency

Common Misdiagnoses of Hypocalcemia

At times, hypocalcemia may be misdiagnosed as other conditions with similar symptoms. Conditions that hypocalcemia has been mistaken as include celiac disease, paresthesia and tetanus.

If hypocalcemia goes undiagnosed, symptoms can continue, causing the patient unnecessary pain. In some rare cases, the condition can be fatal if not treated timely. If the condition is mistaken for another condition, the wrong treatment and medications can be prescribed, which may ultimately harm the patient. For instance, if the condition is mistaken for tetanus, the doctor may prescribe certain antitoxins and antibodies that will not sufficiently treat hypocalcemia and may cause the patient further complications.

If the doctor misses the signs of hypocalcemia and the condition is due to an endocrine problem such as hypoparathyroidism, then the underlying condition will also go untreated which brings its own set of problems.

Talk with a Lawyer

If you have hypocalcemia that was misdiagnosed and the condition or an underlying problem was not timely treated, you may have a case of medical malpractice. If you can prove you suffered harm because of the medical negligence, you can recover both economic and non-economic damages such as medical costs, lost wages and pain and suffering. Talk with a medical malpractice attorney to discuss possible compensation due to you.