A Comparative Study between the Use of Atropine Alone and in Combination with Glycopyrrolate in Acute Organophosphorus Poisoning in Minia Poison Control Center

Objectives: To evaluate and compare the effectiveness of atropine alone and the combined therapy of atropine and glycopyrrolate in treatment of patients with acute organophosphate poisoning (OP). Patients and Method: Forty patients with history of OP poisoning were included in the study with in the period from 1 st of March 2017 to 28 th of February 2018. The study is a prospective randomized controlled trial that was carried out on patients admitted to Poison Control Center of Minia University Hospital. These patients were divided in to two groups of 20 patients each. Group I was treated with atropine alone while group II was treated with atropine in combination with glycopyrrolate. Results: The majority of the patients were females (55%). The outcomes of these two groups were analyzed and compared including percentage of mortality, percentage of recovery, duration of hospital stay, need for mechanical ventilation, incidence of intermediate syndrome and percentage of adverse reactions. The percentage of recovery and percentage of mortality were the same between the 2 groups with p=1. However, there was reduction in hospitalization days and incidence of adverse drug reactions of the used drugs in group II when compared to group I. Conclusion: The study suggests that treatment with combined therapy of atropine and glycopyrrolate was more effective than therapy with atropine alone regarding the reduction in the duration of hospital stay and incidence of adverse reactions of the used drugs