Clinical Characteristics of Paraquat Poisoning in 22 Chinese Children

Objective To retrospectively analyze the clinical characteristics and experience of Chinese children with paraquat poisoning. Methods Twenty-two children with paraquat poisoning who presented to the hospital from October 2007 through September 2012 were enrolled into this study. The clinical indices of these cases were collected and analyzed. Results All the children were poisoned due to oral ingestion of paraquat. Different degrees of damage were found in multiple systems in their bodies. All of them were administered pulse therapy using methylprednisolone (20 mg/kg/d × 3d) and Gamma globulin (total 2 g/kg divided into 3 d to 5 d) in the early stage. Prednisone was then given orally for 4wk to 8 wk. The total mortality rate of the patients was 63.6 % (14 of 22 patients died). Statistical differences ( P