Online Journal of Health & Allied Sciences (Jan 2022)
A Prospective Observational Study on Different Intentional Poisonings in a Tertiary Care Hospital and its Outcome
Abstract
Background: Intentional poisoning is a very common clinical entity in developing countries like India where agriculture is practiced widely and insecticides being used to a greater extent. Awareness on the patterns of regional poisons and its overall profile will help in managing the toxicological emergencies effectively leading to better outcome. Aim: To determine the pattern and the socio-demographic profile of patients admitted with intentional poisoning in a tertiary care hospital and the in-hospital outcome of the same. Methods: This study was a prospective observational design done over a period of 6 months among intentional poisoning patients admitted in a tertiary care hospital in South India. Patients above or equal to 18 years of age who deliberately consumed poison with intention of self-harm were included. Various factors with regard to the poisons were assessed and their impact on outcome was studied. Results: Among the total 250 patients included in our study, the most commonly used poison was OPC 26% (n=65) followed by rodenticide poison 23.6% (n=59). About 53.2% (n=133) were males and 46.8% (n=117) were females. Majority of our study population were middle aged (31-40 years) persons who comprised around 20.8% (n=52). Almost 46.8% (n=117) of our study population belonged to upper lower socio-economic class according to Modified Kuppusamy scale. Majority of our patients (90.8%, n=227) arrived within 2 hours to the hospital. About 71.2% (n=178) patients were successfully discharged and about 23.6% died (n=59) due to various poisoning, with OPC poison being the most common poison to cause death around 55% (n=36). Mortality was higher in patients who presented late 2 hours after the consumption of poison (n=9). Conclusion: By assessing the various factors with regard to the patient and the poison in intentional poisoning patients, better strategies can be implemented to overcome the existing lacunae in the evaluation and management of poison cases. This poison burden also motivates us to focus more on preventive perspectives as mortality is higher in patients with poisoning inspite of utmost intensive care.
