ABSTRACT
Background: Kala pathar is a chemical used as hair dye in the developing countries. Cases of trans dermal absorption are reported, but the main concerns are regarding its suicidal intake, as there is no specific antidote for this
Objective: To determine the frequency of acute renal failure in patients with kala pathar [paraphenylene diamine] poisoning
Methodology: This cross sectional study was carried out at Department of Medicine, Sheikh Zayed Hospital, Rahim Yar khan from the period of 1[st] January to 31[st] December 2016. The patients with age 15-50 years with history of kala pathar poisoning either by transdermal or oral ingestion [assessed by history] of any amount were included. The frequency of acute renal failure was labeled where the blood urea level was found more than 30 mg/dl and serum creatinine more than 2 mg/dl.The data was entered and analyzed by SPSS by version 21
Results: In this study there were 65 cases, out of which 47 [72.31%] were females and 18 [27.69%] males. The mean age was 24.35+/-9.8years. The mean duration of kala pathar taken before presenting to the hospital was 5.35+/-0.48 hours. Out of 65 cases 58 [89.23%] had oral intake as compared to 7 [10.77%], trans-dermal absorption. All 7 trans-dermal absorption suffered accidental exposure while out of 58 oral intakes, 54 [93%] took it for suicidal attempt. Acute renal failure was seen in 12 [18.46%] out of 65 cases. Renal failure was common in females affecting 9 [19%] out of 47 cases with p= 0.17. It was significantly higher [19%] in age group less than 30 years [ p= 0.04]. Renal failure was also significantly associated with cases that took it orally, with suicidal intent and their time to presentation to hospital was more than 4 hours with p values of 0.001, 0.02 and 0.03 respectively. There was no significant difference in terms of marital status, however, it was common in un-married with p= 0.08
Conclusion: Kala pathar poisoning is common in our population and acute renal failure is seen almost in every 5[th] cases. Young age, oral intake, suicidal intent and late reporting to hospitals were significantly associated with acute renal failure