Paraquat – Boon or bane? A retrospective study of paraquat poisoning and outcomes in a tertiary care center in South India

Setting: Paraquat is a highly toxic, herbicide, extensively used in various parts of India. There is no effective treatment for paraquat poison and carries a very high mortality. In India, this compound can be misused for harmful purposes. Objective: A retrospective time-bound descriptive study of paraquat-consumed patients was conducted at Kasturba Hospital, Manipal, from January 1, 2014 to January 31, 2016. Materials and Methods: All the data were analyzed using the SPSS version 16. All the categorical data are expressed in terms of frequency and percentage. Continuous normal variables were expressed in terms of mean ± standard deviation, and skewed variables were expressed in terms of median and quartiles. Chi-square test was used to find the association between the categorical independent variables across the outcome in survivors, nonsurvivors, and those patients who were discharged from the hospital against medical advice. Similarly, Fisher's exact test was performed for those variables, for which 20% of the expected cell count was