JIST

Abstract

'Introduction: Poisoning is a common medicolegal problem now days all over the world as it consumes not only the valuable health service resources but also causes considerable morbidity and mortality.

Aims and Objectives: The present study was carried out with the objective to find out the pattern of acute poisoning in a tertiary care hospital in South India in one year.

Materials and methods: A retrospective analytical content based analysis was made on 130 poisoning cases recorded in a tertiary care hospital in South India in one year from June 1st 2017 to May 31st 2018 and the results were tabulated.

Results: Of the 130 cases, 52 were males and 78 were females with 31 cow dung poisoning cases (23.84%) as the most common followed by OPC poisoning with 22 cases (16.92%) and rat killer poisoning with 17 cases (13.07%).

Conclusion:: Our study concludes that cow dung is the most common agent of poisoning followed by rat killer and OPC- all related to agricultural occupation with recommendation to establish a Poison Information Centre in all hospitals.