ROLE OF N ACETYL CYSTEINE IN YELLOW PHOSPHOROUS POISONING IN A TERTIARY CARE CENTER

Dr.Sundaram Rajan; Dr.Sangumani Jayaram; Dr.Dinesh Ravichandran

Volume : VIII, Issue : I, January - 2018

ROLE OF N ACETYL CYSTEINE IN YELLOW PHOSPHOROUS POISONING IN A TERTIARY CARE CENTER

Dr. Sundaram Rajan, Dr. Sangumani Jayaram, Dr. Dinesh Ravichandran

Abstract :

Rat killer paste(Yellow phosphorous) is one of the most common from of poisoning in south india. It causes hepatotoxicity by free radical production. No specific antidote has been found yet. N acetyl cysteine is used as a supportive therapy in many cases of acute liver failure due to yellow phosphorus.our study was prospective analytical study in patients of yellow phosphorous poisoning receiving N acetyl cyteine(NAC).

AIM OF THE STUDY:

To analyse the treatment success and mortality rates in patients of yellow phosphorous poisoning treated with N acetyl cysteine.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

All patients admitted with ingestion of rat killer paste(yellow phosphorous) in our tertiary medical college hospital from January 2017 to june 2017 and treated with N acetyl cysteine. Patients were analysed with respect to age, sex, time to initiaiton of NAC.

RESULTS:

Of the total 62 patients 12 patients died. 10 of these deaths were in patients who had presented more than 3 days after ingestion. Patients treated with NAC had a mortality rate 19.3% and there was no age,sex based variation in mortality rates. Delayed presentation (>72hrs) after ingestion had a significant mortality rate of 91%.

CONCLUSION:

N acetyl cysteine reduces mortality when given earlier in patients with rat killer paste poisoning.The time to initiate therapy plays a major role in the prognosis of the patients. Since most of the primary care providers are unaware of this therapy, educating them will improve the survival rate among rat killer paste poisoning.