European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine

Abstract

Paraquat (N, N′-dimethyl-4, 4′-bipyridinium dichloride), a brown syrupy liquid is an effective herbicide that has low chronic toxicity because of its rapid deactivation on contact with soil. A high dose of paraquat or severe poisoning has a poor prognosis. At present, there is no specific antidote to paraquat poisoning, hence the need to focus on prevention and in case of exposure or ingestion, aggressive decontamination to prevent further absorption. The prognosis is uniformly poor worldwide, including for those who treat aggressively with multimodal therapies. Long-term survivors are few, and have GI and pulmonary complications. Hence, prevention needs to be the utmost priority, and on exposure, aggressive decontamination should be initiated. Although it is a very common herbicide, there are very few cases reported from India, and awareness among people needs to be widened. Here is a case report of a 50 years old gentleman presented to the hospital with an alleged history of consumption of paraquat Poison by himself.