A Study of Toxification Types in Intubated Poisoned Patients in the ICUs of Taft Shahid Beheshti and Yazd Shahvali Hospitals (2015–2019)

Articles in Press

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Medical Sciences, Yazd Branch, Islamic Azad University, Yazd, Iran

2 Department of Forensic Medicine & Clinical Toxicology, Yazd Branch, Islamic Azad University, Yazd, Iran

3 Department of Internal medicine, Fasa University of Medical Sciences, Fasa, Iran

4 Student Research Committee, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran

5 Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, School of Pharm, Yazd, Iran

6 Department of Internal medicine, Faculty of medicine, Shahid Sadougi University of Medical Sciences and Health Service, Yazd, Iran

7 General Practitioner, Social security organization of Yazd, Iran

Abstract

Background: Although poisoning is one of the most common reasons for visits to emergency departments, the types of toxification among intubated poisoned patients in ICUs have not been well documented.
 
Objectives: This study aimed to identify the toxification types among intubated poisoned patients in an intensive care unit (ICU).
 
Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted on poisoned patients with chemical compounds, hospitalized in ICU, and underwent endotracheal intubation. Toxicological and clinical factors, as well as outcomes, were collected and analyzed. Analysis was performed using the Chi-square test and Fisher's exact test. The p-value < 0.05 was considered significant.
 
Results: In this study, 307 patients with the diagnosis of poisoning were evaluated. The most common toxic agents were methadone (46.8%), opium (5.9%), organophosphorus compounds (5.9%), methanol (4.2%), and other chemical substances (2.4%). A single compound poisoned most patients (70%). Furthermore, 167 patients (54.4%) experienced accidental poisoning or drug abuse, while the remaining cases (45.6%) were due to suicidal intentions. Significant differences were observed between these two groups (suicidal and accidental poisoning groups) regarding age, gender, types of toxification, and grouping and duration of ICU hospitalization (P < 0.05). Significant differences were found in patient outcomes based on toxification types, toxification type grouping, or ICU hospitalization duration (P < 0.05).
 
Conclusion: Our results indicate that opioids, especially methadone, were the most frequent cause of poisoning in our study. Pesticide poisoning occurred significantly more often in patients with suicidal intent. Additionally, patient outcomes were significantly influenced by age, gender, type, grouping of toxic agents, and duration of ICU hospitalization.
 

Keywords

Acknowledgements: This study was financially supported by Yazd Islamic Azad University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, center Iran. We gratefully acknowledge the dedicated efforts of the investigators, the coordinators, and the volunteers who participated in this study.

 

Availability of data and materials: The dataset analyzed during the current study is available upon reasonable request from the corresponding author.

 

Conflicts of interests: The authors have indicated that they have no conflicts of interest regarding the content of this article.

 

Consent for publication: Not applicable.

 

Ethics approval and consent to participate: The study received ethics approval from the Ethics Committee of Yazd Islamic Azad University of Medical Sciences (IR.IAU.YAZD.REC.1399.002).The study was conducted in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki.

 

Financial disclosure: None.

 

Author contributions: Conceptualization, Investigation and Project administration by Ghonghe OmidShafiee,Hamid Owliaey, Sareh Rafat Moghadam, Methodology and writing the original draft by Shadi Talebi, Hamidreza Ghasemirad,Marjan Shariatpanahi. Writing and Ediiting by Forouzan Farez,Faezeh Niknam, Mehrnoush Giahi Yazdi.

 

Open Access Policy: This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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Razavi International Journal of Medicine

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 29 June 2025

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