Yellow Phosphorous Poisoning: An Observational Study From a Tertiary Care Hospital

Abstract

BACKGROUND Yellow phosphorous, a rodenticide, is a lethal toxin in humans that can cause damages to hepatic, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal and the renal systems and it carries significant morbidity and mortality. The current study evaluated the mortality, outcomes and complications associated with acute yellow Phosphorous poisoning. MATERIALS AND METHODS The retrospective study was conducted at a teaching hospital in South India, between January 2015 and March 2017. Subjects >13 years of age with acute poisoning due to 3% yellow phosphorous were included in the study. They were classified into various groups based on age, gender, the amount consumed, and time delays in receiving hospital care. The various outcomes including the incidence in different age groups, amount of poison consumed, proportion of patients died, and proportion of patients cured were analysed. Statistical analyses were performed using GraphPad Prism 5.0. RESULTS The study enrolled a total of 334 cases, and the male-to-female ratio noted was 0.94:1. Majority of the subjects belonged to the age group of 20-29 years. A mortality rate of 76.24% was observed among the subjects with known outcomes. The complications noted in the subjects included toxic hepatitis, clinical jaundice, hepatic encephalopathy, hypoglycaemia, myocarditis, bleeding, respiratory failure and shock. Highest rate of survival was noted in the group treated with N-acetyl cysteine.

Role of therapeutic plasma exchange in acute liver failure due to yellow phosphorus poisoning

“…Our study was similar to other studies which reported that YPP with ALF presentation was young (between 20 and 40 years) with a male gender predominance [ 9 ]. Previous study on 334 YPP in a tertiary care center in the same geographical location (Thanjavur, Tamilnadu, India) showed very high mortality rate (76.2%) with standard medical care [ 12 ]. In contrast, our study reveals that the overall survival was 79% with TPE.…”

Conquering Challenges: A Case Series of Yellow Phosphorus Poisoning at a Tertiary Care Hospital in Pune, Western India

“…Various systems can be affected like the hepatic, renal, cardiac, and central nervous system, so daily clinical evaluation should be done [4,5]. A study conducted at a tertiary care hospital in South India showed that yellow phosphorus was a common rodenticide used in suicide attempts with >76% mortality despite maximal supportive therapy [6]. Although more research has been done to lay out medications and drugs for the treatment, no specific antidote has been recognized against that.…”