Early use of bleaching earth in treatment of paraquat poisoning

Objective To observe the clinical effect of early use of bleaching earth in the treatment of paraquat (PQ) poisoning. Methods The clinical data of 420 PQ poisoning cases during 2009 to 2015 were analyzed. The patients were divided into two groups based on whether bleaching earth was used or not at early stage after the patients have their stomach pumped in the local hospitals before they were transferred into our hospital. The clinical fate of patients in these groups were compared after the known affecting factors, such as poisoning dose, were controlled. Results The fatality of 186 patients who received the early treatment of bleaching earth was 32.3% and the average survival time of these death cases was 15 d,while the fatality of 243 cases who did not received the early treatment of bleaching earth was 45.3% and the average survival time of these death cases was 11 d, and the differences were statistically significant(P<0.05 or 0.01). Conclusion These results indicated that super early use of bleaching earth could increase the success rate of rescuing PQ poisoning. It should be incorporated into regular measures in treatment of paraquat poisoning in the basic-level hospitals.