Pattern of Poisoning Reported at South Indian Tertiary Care Hospital

Background: Acute poisoning is a common medical emergency and one of the important causes of morbidity and mortality in developing countries due to easy availability of poisonous substances and its low cost. So it was important to know the pattern of poisoning at St Martha's Hospital. Objective: To evaluate the pattern of poisoning at a tertiary care hospital in south India, Bangalore and to study the sociodemographic profile of the same. Methodology: A retrospective analysis of all poisoning cases admitted to the emergency department of St Martha's Hospital from Jan 2006 to Oct 2007 was done to study the pattern of poisoning reported. Data on age and sex distribution, religion, type of poisoning and hospitalization stay were collected and analyzed. Results: A total of 148 patients (male: 93, female: 55) were included in the study. The age of the patients varied from 1-68 years. The male female ratio was 1.7:1. In more than 25 years of age, there was male predominance in all the age group. The types of poisons were insecticides like organophosphrous compound, halogenated insecticides, petroleum products, anti-inflammatory drugs, corrosive substance, barbiturate, rodenticides, etc. 60.23 % of cases were intentional poisoning for suicidal attempt. The hospital stay of the admitted patients with poisoning ranged from 01 to 52 days. The mean hospital stay was 7.9 days. During the hospital stay, most of the cases were managed in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) services. In the study 22 cases had mortality. Conclusion: Intentional poisoning among young adults is a common public health hazardous. The commonest poisoning includes organophosphrous, halogenated insecticides, and petroleum products. Establishing a poison information centre (PIC), which should be networked with other PIC in India and also with developed countries, can help in early identification of the poisoning and also managing the cases by sharing the information. Awareness to the public regarding information on poison prevention has to be penetrated.