The clinico-epidemiological, diagnostic and therapeutic aspects of methanol poisoning: A five-year retrospective study, northern Iran

Abstract

IntroductionMethanol poisoning (MP) is a serious health issue that has become more prevalent in recent years and has resulted in numerous deaths. Early detection and timely treatment are critical for preventing fatalities and reducing the incidence of neurological complications. Patients and methodsThis study was designed as a retrospective investigation with the purpose of analyzing the clinico-epidemiological, diagnostic, and therapeutic aspects of patients who were admitted to two training hospitals in northern Iran due to MP. The selection of samples for this study was based on a pre-defined checklist. Following the completion of the treatment period in the hospital, the patients were categorized into three groups based on their clinical outcome. All relevant variables for each group were recorded and reported separately, using the SciPy library in the Python programming language. ResultsThe majority of the patients (88.12%) were male (P=0.012), the average age was 41.46, and mostly (82.18%) lived in urban regions (P=0.025). The primary clinical complaint reported was visual disorders, accounting for 75.25% of the cases, followed by nervous, gastrointestinal, respiratory, and chest pain accordingly. The average hospitalization length for the patients was 5.065 days. Out of the 101 patients, 65 (64.36%) were discharged without any complications, 17 (16.83%) were discharged with complications, and unfortunately, 19 (18.81%) were died. ConclusionA decreased level of consciousness and severe metabolic acidosis are commonly associated with unfavorable outcomes in MP. The use of systemic corticosteroids as a treatment method has a significant association with reducing mortality rates.