Background: Acute poisoning is a medical emergency and preventable cause of morbidity and Mortality. Gastric lavage (GL) is one of the most commonly used decontamination method for poisoning in developing countries despite lack of supporting evidence. This study was designed to evaluate the outcome of patients with acute poisoning treated with GL in regards to timing of the procedure. Methods: In this study, GL was planned to be administered to patients with acute poisoning after initial stabilization. Early GL was defined as GL given within one hour of poison exposure and late GL was referred to performing the procedure after one hour till 12 hours of ingestion. Results: During the study period, 80 patients with acute poisoning received GL comprising of 30 who received early, 50 who received late. 23 patients (29%) died. Mortality, respiratory failure and duration of ICU stay was more in late GL treated patients compared to early GL patients however this was not stastically significant. Conclusion: Since in our study timing of gastric lavage did not create a meaningful difference in the overall mortality, respiratory failure and duration of ICU stay, it would be better that gastric lavage be given to all patients irrespective of early or late arrival without any clinical ambiguity.

Keywords: Gastric Lavage; Respiratory Failure.