Journal of Forensic Research

Epidemiology Analysis of Poisonings with Tramadol

Abstract

Habib Ahmadi, Mansour Rezaie and Jamal Hoseini

It is reported that suicide was the most frequent cause of poisoning by tramadol. Seizure is a serious nervous disturbance in tramadol overdose. This study intends to characterize the poisoning with tramadol cases admitted to the Department of Emergency, Imam-Khomeini Hospital in Kermanshah, Iran. The number 1023 patients admitted from March 2008 till March 2010 were evaluated retrospectively. Information of demographic characteristics, cause of poisoning; dose of poisoning; duration of hospitalization; seizure status; co-ingestion; and mortality rate were collected from medical records of the hospital. The most poisoned subjects were bachelor (79.8%) and 20 years old (11.1%). Suicide (55.1%) was the most common mode of tramadol poisoning cause. 41.8% of cases had seizure symptom and seizure incidence in male was greater than female (P<0.001). correlation between dosages of used tramadol and outbreak of seizure was significant. Abuse and poisoning by tramadol led to seizure and death, and frequencies of poisoning by tramadol were among people with less than 30 years old and with the intension of suicide. The essential issue is the necessity to try to increase level of knowledge among youth regarding consumption, approaches of suicide prevention and limitation of approachability and distribution of tramadol especially in younger ages.