ABSTRACT
A five-year retrospective study was undertaken to ascertain the incidence of poisoning deaths in and around Belgaum district of Karnataka state, which were autopsied at KLE's Prabhakar Kore Hospital and Research Centre, Belgaum, a referral hospital catering to the needs of the general public within a radius of 100 km. Out of 600 autopsies conducted, 150 were deaths due to poisoning. The commonest age group of affected victims was 21 to 30 years. Males outnumbered females in a ratio of 2.2:1. The most commonly used poison was an organophosphorus compound. Most victims died within 1 to 6 hours of admission to the hospital. Most of the cases were suicidal in nature.
ABSTRACT
A young, married Muslim female was brought dead to casualty with a history of being found unconscious in the bathroom. The information furnished by the police and interaction with the relatives revealed that the deceased had been in good health prior to the incident which the suspicion of foul play. Meticulous autopsy ruled out natural disease and trauma. Findings were however highly suggestive of asphyxia without any demonstrable external or internal cause for the same. The case was finally solved by taking into consideration various causes for bathroom deaths, and ruling out each one by one. At the end, it was concluded that the cause of asphyxia was inhalation of vitiated air, associated with inadequate ventilation.
ABSTRACT
Administration of fluid diet by nasogastric tube is indicated in patients who are unable or unwilling to take sufficient nourishment by mouth. Ryle's tube is one among such devices, which is commonly used for feeding unconscious patients, and for performing stomach wash in cases of suspected poisoning. But before using this tube for any procedure it is imperative to check the correct position of the distal end of the tube. This is because, occasionally the tube may inadvertently enter the airway instead of the gastrointestinal tract. In rare cases, even when the tube is positioned in the gastrointestinal tract, fatality can result. A case is reported here in which, an adult male with a history of head injury was admitted to the hospital in an unconscious state, and died after a period of about 12 hours following admission. At autopsy, food particles were seen in the lung parenchyma, which indicated faulty positioning of Ryle's tube that had led to fatality. Chest X-ray showed the Ryle's tube curving at the fundus of the stomach and re-entering the oesophagus.