PARAQUAT POISONING: A CASE SERIES IN NORTH INDIA

*Dr. Nitesh Kanwar and Dr. Poonam Kanwar

ABSTRACT

The present study is done on paraquat poisoning, its modes of presentation, complications and outcome. The study is conducted over a period of 2 years and 10 cases of paraquat poisoning were documented at our tertiary care centre. Paraquat is a bipyridium herbicide used for agricultural purpose with good safety record. Most cases were of intentional ingestion i.e. suicidal attempt and the survival rate was two out of ten patients, which clearly indicates that high survival chances are there in patients who present early (6-8 hours) and with lesser amount of ingestion in our study. The most common mode of presentations was with oral ulcerations, esophagitis & acute kidney injury. The most common complications leading to death are pulmonary fibrosis, circulatory failure, myocarditis and eventually multi-organ failure in our study.

Keywords: Paraquat, pulmonary fibrosis, immunosuppression, multi-organ failure.