¹Sujata Devi , ²Ashok Dasari , ³Srujan KumarDasyam , ³Sai Sripada Rao K

¹Assistant Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, ²Ex- postgraduate student, Department of Internal Medicine, ³Postgraduate student, Department of Internal Medicine, Prathima Institute of Medical Sciences, Karimnagar, Andhra Pradesh, India. Address for correspondence: Dr. Sujatha Devi, Assistant Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, Prathima Institute of Medical Sciences, Karimnagar, Andhra Pradesh, India.

Address for correspondence : Dr. Trupti N Bodhare, Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Prathima Institute of Medical Sciences, Karimnagar, Andhra Pradesh, India.

Email: sujiankita@gmail.com

Introduction: Acute poisoning is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in India. It is estimated that more than 50,000 people die every year from toxin exposure. In India, intentional cases alone reach some 126,000 cases annually and organophosphorus compounds constitute major poisonings.

Materials and Methods: A cross sectional, descriptive study was conducted among 30 cases of acute poisoning admitted in Prathima Institute of Medical Sciences, Karimnagar, Andhra Pradesh during September 2011-12. Socio-demographic variables assessed were age, sex and area wise distribution of the respondents. Type of poison, the amount ingested, clinical presentation and outcome were studied.

Results : In this study, maximum cases 13 (43.4%) were between 17 to 20 years, males 17 (57%) were more commonly involved in acute poisoning and 20 (67%) cases came from rural areas. The majority 13 (43.3%) of cases were organophosphates poisonings and 28 (93%) of cases were of suicidal intentions. Most of the suicidal poisonings were due to economical problems 14 (50%), followed by broken relationships 6 (21%) and studies related reasons were observed in 5 (18%) of cases. Out of total 30 cases of poisonings in this study, 26 cases (86.66%) were recovered completely, whereas 4 cases (13.3%) expired.

Conclusion : Prevention of poisoning requires further exploration of underlying factors in their cultural context and effective strategies including management of these problems. Changing the knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of the community and improvement in the medical treatment plan is required to curtail the incidence and mortality.

Key words:Acute poisoning, Organophosphorus compounds, India.