A Report on the Incidence of Organophosphate Poisoning among Patients Admitted to King Abdul-Aziz Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia over a Period of 12 Years

Background: Organophosphate (OP) is a chemical component, extensively used as a pest control. It is known to block the action of acetylcholinesterase (AChE), causing accumulation of acetylcholine, resulting in symptoms which tantamount to poisoning. Many reports are published on OP poisoning, however; there is a paucity of literature on poisoning due to OP in Saudi Arabia. Hence, the purpose of our study was to look for OP poisoning, in patients admitted to King Abdul-Aziz Medical City (KAMC) over a period of 12 years ranging from January 2002 to June 2014.

Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective study of patients admitted to KAMC with history of acute toxicity.

Results: The study constituted a total of 82 patients. Eighty five percent of admissions were Saudis. The age range was between 6 months and 91 years. Gender ratio was 1.05:1 female to male. Accidental exposure was 62.2%, followed by 30% suicidal attempts. About 55.41% of the patients ingested the poison orally, 31.08% and 13.51% of the incidents were through skin and respiration respectively. Most of the patients (59.8%) arrived to the hospital within 4 hours of exposure. Majority of the patients (79.27%) arrived by private car. Muscarinic effects had been dominant in these patients. Nausea and vomiting were present in 62% of the cases, followed by pupil dilation (54%) and hyper-salivation (35%). Out of 82 patients, 26.83% showed shortness of breath. During the treatment, 24 patients developed both acute and chronic complications. The rate of mortality was 2.4%.

Conclusion: Poisoning is found common as a suicidal attempt among adult females and those who had a history of psychiatric illness, while children below 6 years are at high risk of accidental poisoning.