HUMAN POISONING

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of poisoning in local population ofDistrict Sargodha. Study Design: A retrospective study. Setting & Duration: The study wasconducted in District Head Quarter (DHQ) Teaching Hospital, Sargodha for the period of onecalendar year from 1st January, 2016 to 31st December, 2016. Methodology: One hundred indoorpatients of poisoning were studied for the role of age, gender, residential background, maritalstatus, type of poison / drug taken, method of intake, time of the intake of poison, duration of stayin the hospital, treatment and the outcome. Results: Males had a preponderance over females(3:2), rural to urban (3.5:1), married over unmarried (1.63:1), the most affected age group was21-30 years involving (45%) victims, thirty five cases of wheat pill poisoning outnumbered allother. The poisoning cases commonly reported in the months of February, March, April andJuly. Suicide was the commonest manner of death, the usual route of poisoning was oral (83%),patients hospital stay was one day in majority (75%) cases, whereas combined treatment wasgiven in (56%) cases which lead to a recovery rate in 73% victims. Conclusion: Effectivelegislation & strict control for sale of dangerous drugs and poisons, awareness amongst thesociety and vigorous efforts by the trained medical staff can save precious lives from poisoning.