biology

Sodium thiosulfate (medical use)

Sodium thiosulfate (medical use) is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Sodium thiosulfate (medical use) rather than just read about it. In short: Sodium thiosulfate, also spelled sodium thiosulphate, is used as a medication to treat cyanide poisoning, pityriasis versicolor, and to decrease side effects from cisplatin. For cyanide poisoning, it is often used after the medication sodium nitrite and is typically only recommended for severe cases.

Key takeaways

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Reference excerpt

Sodium thiosulfate, also spelled sodium thiosulphate, is used as a medication to treat cyanide poisoning, pityriasis versicolor, and to decrease side effects from cisplatin. For cyanide poisoning, it is often used after the medication sodium nitrite and is typically only recommended for severe cases. It is either given by injection into a vein or applied to the skin. Side effects may include vomiting, joint pain, mood changes, psychosis, and ringing in the ears. Safety, however, has not been well studied. It is unclear if use during pregnancy is safe for the baby. Its use at the same time in the same intravenous line as hydroxocobalamin is not recommended. In cyanide poisoning, sodium nitrite creates methemoglobinemia, which removes cyanide from the mitochondria. Sodium thiosulfate then binds with cyanide, creating the nontoxic thiocyanate. Sodium thiosulfate came into medical use for cyanide poisoning in the 1930s. It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines.

Medical uses The main use of sodium thiosulfate is in cyanide poisoning and pityriasis versicolor.

Cyanide poisoning Sodium thiosulfate is a classical antidote to cyanide poisoning, For this purpose it is used after the medication sodium nitrite and typically only recommended for severe cases. It is given by injection into a vein. In this use, sodium nitrite creates methemoglobinemia which removes cyanide from mitochondria. Sodium thiosulfate then serves as a sulfur donor for the conversion of cyanide to the nontoxic thiocyanate, catalyzed by the enzyme rhodanase. The thiocyanate is then safely excreted in the urine. There are concerns that sodium thiosulfate may not have a fast enough onset of action to be very useful for this use without the additional use of other agents. In cases with both cyanide poisoning and carbon monoxide poisoning, sodium thiosulfate by itself is recommended.

Reducing hearing loss during chemotherapy In September 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved sodium thiosulfate under the brand name Pedmark to lessen the risk of ototoxicity and hearing loss in infant, child, and adolescent cancer patients receiving the chemotherapy medication cisplatin. In the European Union, sodium thiosulfate (Pedmarqsi) is indicated for the prevention of ototoxicity induced by cisplatin chemotherapy in people aged 1 month to < 18 years of age with localized, non-metastatic, solid tumors. The most common side effects include vomiting, nausea (feeling sick), hypernatremia (high blood levels of sodium), hypophosphatemia (low blood levels of phosphate) and hypokalemia (low blood levels of potassium). Sodium thiosulfate (Pedmarqsi) was approved for medical use in the European Union in May 2023.

Hemodialysis There is a small amount of evidence supporting the use of sodium thiosulfate to counteract calciphylaxis, the calcification of blood vessels that may occur in hemodialysis patients with end-stage kidney disease. However, it has been claimed that this treatment may cause severe metabolic acidosis in some patients. Sodium thiosulfate has been observed to help in the treatment of a rare systemic fibrosis condition caused by gadolinium-based contrast media in patients with kidney failure. The compound can also be used to measure the volume of extracellular body fluid and the renal glomerular filtration rate.

Fungal infections of the skin Foot baths of sodium thiosulfate are used for prophylaxis of ringworm. It is also used as a topical antifungal agent for tinea versicolor (pityriasis versicolor), possibly in combination with salicylic acid; and for other fungal infections of the skin.

Side effects Side effects may include vomiting, joint pain, mood changes, psychosis, and ringing in the ears. Safety; however, has not been well studied. It is unclear if use in pregnancy is safe for the baby. Use at the same time in the same intravenous line as hydroxocobalamin is not recommended.

History Sodium thiosulfate came into medical use for cyanide poisoning in the 1930s.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Sodium thiosulfate (medical use)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Sodium thiosulfate (medical use) claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Sodium thiosulfate (medical use) before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Sodium thiosulfate (medical use) ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Sodium thiosulfate (medical use)

In research: Sodium thiosulfate (medical use) appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Sodium thiosulfate (medical use) in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Sodium thiosulfate (medical use) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Drugs not assigned an ATC code, World Health Organization essential medicines, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Sodium thiosulfate (medical use) outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Sodium thiosulfate (medical use) in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Sodium thiosulfate (medical use) means in your own words.
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Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
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Frequently asked questions

What is Sodium thiosulfate (medical use) in simple terms?

Why does Sodium thiosulfate (medical use) matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Sodium thiosulfate (medical use)?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Sodium thiosulfate (medical use).