Affiliations 

  • 1 South Asian Clinical Toxicology Research Collaboration, Faculty of Medicine, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
  • 2 Medical Library, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
  • 3 Biomedical informatics and Digital Health, Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology Research Group, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  • 4 Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, University of Ruhuna, Galle, Sri Lanka
Alcohol Alcohol, 2023 Jan 09;58(1):4-12.
PMID: 36172715 DOI: 10.1093/alcalc/agac045

Abstract

AIM: Alcohol is a commonly co-ingested compound during self-poisoning with pesticides. Clinical experiences suggest alcohol co-ingestion (or withdrawal) makes patient management more difficult after self-poisoning and may contribute to poor clinical outcomes. We aimed to systematically review the world literature to explore the relationship between alcohol co-ingestion and outcome in pesticide self-poisoning.

METHODS: We searched 13 electronic databases and Google scholar, conducted citation searching and a review of reference lists to find studies which investigated the relationship of alcohol with clinical outcome of pesticide self-poisoning in different countries. Thirteen studies, including 11 case series/reports and two cohort studies were considered for inclusion.

RESULTS: Meta-analysis showed that alcohol co-ingestion in pesticide self-poisoning was associated with increased risk of death [odds ratio (OR) 4.9, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.9-8.2 P<0.0001] and that alcohol co-ingested group required intubation eight times more often than non-co-ingested group in organophosphorus insecticide self-poisoning (OR 8.0, 95% CI 4.9-13.0 P<0.0001). Cases who co-ingested alcohol were older than non-alcohol group in two studies. One cohort study demonstrated that alcohol co-ingestion was associated with larger pesticide ingestions but did not itself affect the outcome.

CONCLUSIONS: This systematic review indicates that alcohol co-ingestion may worsen clinical outcome in pesticide self-poisoning.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.