Poisoning is an important public health problem causing significant morbidity and mortality throughout the world. According to World Health Organization (WHO), globally than three million of acute poisoning cases with 2,20,000 deaths occur annually. Knowledge of general pattern of poisoning in a particular region will help in early diagnosis and treatment of the cases. In present study 341 cases of acute poisoning admitted in the emergency medicine department of Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Srinagar from 1st September 2014 to 31th October 2015, were studied for a detailed epidemiological and medicolegal analysis.
The majority of the victims were young in the age group of 20-29 years. Most of the admitted cases were suicidal and women were the main victim. Majority of the cases belonged to the rural areas. Accidental cases due to occupational exposure or inhalation were also reported. The house wives and students were the predominant groups affected. Pesticide poisoning was the most predominant type of poisoning.
