Burden of poisoning on a critical care unit in southern India.

Background. Poisoning inflicts a considerable economic cost on the health sector. Few cases of poisoning may require intensive management in a critical care unit and thus add to the financial burden. In this study, our primary objective was to analyse the financial burden of poisoning on critical care facilities and the secondary objective was to analyse the critical care needs and treatment outcomes of patients with poisoning. Methods. We did this retrospective study of patients admitted with poisoning in the critical care unit of Government Medical College Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala (12-bedded critical care unit of 2500-bedded medical college hospital) from January 2011 to December 2013. Patients <13 years of age were excluded. Cost was estimated using the hospital expenditure data. Results. A total of 118 patients, comprising 2.5% of the total critical care unit admissions, were included in the study. The average cost of providing critical care for cases of poisoning was (sic)367 333 per annum. Organophosphorus poison was the most common agent (33.9%) with the highest cost per admission of approximately (sic)18 500. The highest number of deaths was due to phosphide poisoning with a case fatality rate of 83%. Conclusions. Poisoning imposes a considerable burden on the limited critical care services. Organophosphorus was the most common substance consumed for poisoning and it led to the highest expenditure per admission.