Study on the pattern of poisoning and their management in tertiary care hospital

Background: Poisoning is a common medico-social problem now days all over the world. The study evaluates the cases admitted in TUTH, Maharajgunj, Kathmandu. Various parameters like Age, Sex, Marital status, Educational status, Type of poisoning, Intent of poisoning, Duration of treatment and Treatment pattern were analyzed.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to study the Pattern of Poisoning and their Management.

Methods: This is a cross sectional descriptive study in which the data of the 120 poisoning patients in emergency ward of Tertiary Care Hospital, TUTH, Maharajgunj was recorded from the data collection form and through the inquiry. The collected data was enter in Microsoft Excel and data analysis was done in Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software of version 25.

Result: Most of the poisoning cases were found in the age group of 21-30 years i.e. 42.5% and least poisoning cases were found in 56 -70 and 61-70 years i.e. 4.2%. The mean age of the study population was found to be 30.06 ± 12.82 years. The numbers of female patient were 56.7% which is higher than males 43.3%. The percentage of unemployed patients was 40% which also illustrated the cause for poisoning. The common agents involved in poisoning were Organophosphate Compounds i.e. Metacid and Chlorpyrifos within 51.7% cases and followed by Zinc Phosphorus Poisoning i.e. 13.3% cases. It was found that 92.5% of the cases were intentional and 7.5% of the cases were accidental. The main reason for intentional poisoning was family dispute i.e. 87.9%. The mean hospital stay was 4.44±2.49 Days. Gastric Lavage was perform on 87% cases along with Antidotes on 65% cases and Gastric Acid Inhibitors on 89.2% cases.

Conclusion: The numbers of female patient were higher than males. Most of the poisoning cases were found in the age group of 21-30 years. The unemployed patients were 40% which also illustrated the cause for poisoning. Common agents involved in poisoning were Organophosphate Compounds. It was found that 92.5% of the cases were intentional for suicidal attempt. Gastric Lavage was perform on 91.6% cases. Atropine and Pralidoxime were used in Organophosphate Poisoning while N-Acetyl Cysteine was used as antidote on Paracetamol and Mushroom Poisoning. Pneumonia was found in 1.7% cases whereas other complications were not found on rest of the sample.