The Efficacy and Safety of Continuous Venovenous Hemofiltration in Patients With Severe Acute Paraquat Poisoning

Paraquat (1,1 '-dimethyl-4,4'-bipyridylium dichloride) is widely used as a herbicide. Accidental or intentional ingestion of paraquat is common in many developing countries such as China, Sri Lanka and Korea because of easy access. The high mortality rate of paraquat is due to its high toxicity and the lack of effective treatments. Thus, the paraquat poisoning becomes one of major medical problem in the developing countries.

Paraquat poisoning is also one of major causes of death among young patients with acute poisoning in China. It is characterized by multiple organ failure and pulmonary fibrosis with respiratory failure. A growing body of evidence suggested that continuous venovenous hemofiltration (CVVH) had a great beneficial role in the treatment of multiple organ dysfunctions. We hypothesized that CVVH might reduce the high mortality rate of paraquat poisoning via restoring the multiorgan function, such as acute hepatic lesion, acute kidney injury, acute lung injury and acute pancreatic injury. We expect to enroll 100 patients from our hospital within 1 week after oral intake of paraquat. All patients were divided into Group 1 and Group 2. Group 1 were treated with a standardized therapeutic regimen including stomach lavage, emergency haemoperfusion and drugs. Group 2 were accepted with standardized treatment plus CVVH. The aim of this prospective clinical study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of CVVH for the treatment of patients with paraquat poisoning. The survival rate, clinical manifestations and clinical parameters between these two groups were compared.