A study on poisoning cases in a tertiary care hospital

Abstract

Acute poisoning with various substance is common everywhere. The earlier the initial resuscitations, gastric decontamination and use of specific antidotes, the better the outcome. The aim of this study was to characterize the poisoning cases admitted to the tertiary care hospital, Warangal district, Andhra Pradesh, Southern India. All cases admitted to the emergency department of the hospital between the months of January and December, 2007, were evaluated retrospectively. We reviewed data obtained from the hospital medical records and included the following factors: socio-demographic characteristics, agents and route of intake and time of admission of the poisoned patients. During the outbreak in 2007, 2,226 patients were admitted to the hospital with different poisonings; the overall case fatality rate was 8.3% (n = 186). More detailed data from 2007 reveals that two-third of the patients were 21–30 years old, 5.12% (n = 114) were male and 3.23% (n = 72) were female, who had intentionally poisoned themselves. In summary, the tertiary care hospitals of the Telangana region, Warangal, indicate that significant opportunities for reducing mortality are achieved by better medical management and further sales restrictions on the most toxic pesticides. This study highlighted the lacunae in the services of tertiary care hospitals and the need to establish a poison information center for the better management and prevention of poisoning cases.

A Study on Treatment Pattern and Outcomes of Poisoning Cases in a Tertiary Care and Government District Hospital

“…These, in the order of their descent, can be categorized as follows: OP poisoning (50%), snake bites (22%), stings (16%), honey bee bites (7%), Nerium seeds (5%). The results were in concordance with other researches [4,5,[8][9][10][16][17][18]. This may be due to long standing exposure to these agrochemicals, or due to inadequate self-protection [4,5,11,12,16,17].…”

“…Other studies suggest similar results [4,5,8,9,11,[17][18][19]. This conclusion can be rationalized from the certitude that the age group of 21-30 y is the determining interval of life.…”

“…This may be due to long standing exposure to these agrochemicals, or due to inadequate self-protection [4,5,11,12,16,17]. However, the present study reveals a greater percentage of women falling victim to OP poisoning, indicative from the fact that women, in the Indian community, face several postmarital hardships which compel them to quit [9]. Snake bites (22%) and stings (16%) rank second in the list and occur more frequently in males than in females.…”

“…A vast majority of cases in the developing countries arise from organophosphorus poisoning, resultant from occupational, coincidental or deliberate subjection of farmers or other workers to toxic agents [8][9][10].…”

Study of clinical profile and outcome of acute kidney injury in acute poisoning and envenomation

“…19 The mortality rate in the present study was 52% which was higher than the previous studies. 20,21 This increased incidence of higher mortality rate can be attributed to late presentation of patients in the hospital.…”