AbstractIntroduction: Suicide is also the second most common cause of injury related death after road traffic injuries. Aim of the present study was to find out the influence of admission clinical variables on outcome of patients admitted to emergency room (ER) with attempted hanging.
Material and Methods: A prospective observational study on patients presenting to emergency medicine department with history of attempted hanging and admitting under ICU/emergency medicine wards of SDM Medical college and Hospital, Dharwad. Study duration were about two years. Patients with >18 years of age with history of attempted hanging presenting to ED were included in our study Patients with GCS of 3/15 with bilateral dilated and non-reactive pupils and patients with history of attempted hanging and already diagnosed with hypoxic brain injury were excluded.
Results: Out of 50, 27 were male and 23 were female with more cases in age group between 21-30 years. Time since incidence was one of the parameter influencing on duration of stay in hospital, which was more in 11 patients who presented after 6 hrs of incidence. 30 patients presented with GCS of less than 8 and all these were intubated. This is most significant parameter to predict duration of hospital stay. Majority of patients had hyperglycemia but that did not influence much on patients stay in hospital. 35 cases had GRBS more than 126mg/dl at the time of presentation. All patients underwent CT Brain with C-spine scan which revealed abnormality in 15 cases. These patients also had more number of hospital stay than compared with normal scan finding cases.
Conclusion: In our study it has been evident that presenting clinical parameters including vital status of the victim, level of sensorium/ severity of brain Injury, non-modifiable factors such as age and initial CT scan findings will guide an emergency physician to explaining prognosis in a case of attempted hanging.
Keywords: Hanging; Suicide; Vitals; Outcome; Risk factors.