Dept. of Forensic Medicine, Govt. Medical College, Nagpur, Maharashtra
This retrospective study was carried out at the Govt. Medical College, Nagpur and involved 21 cases of aluminium phosphide poisoning. The cases were analyzed in terms of age, sex, duration of survival, clinical profile, biochemical parameters, and autopsy findings.
The study population comprised 16 males and 5 females, and their age ranged from 15 years to 50 years (average 29.1). 18 persons (85.71%) were in the younger age group (<40 years). The interval between ingestion and admission to hospital ranged from 1 hour to 8 hours (average 3.9 hours), and the period of survival ranged from 3 hours to 78 hours (average 29 hours). 90.47% patients presented with a history of vomiting and loose motions, and 63.15% were in shock (systolic BP ≤90mm Hg) at the time of admission.
Autopsy findings revealed congested organs, pulmonary oedema, and bright red fluid blood. Bilateral pleural effusions were noted in one case, and bleeding diathesis in eight cases. Clinically, apart from persistent hypotension, other findings did not help in differentiating aluminium phosphide poisoning from other toxic causes.
