Study of gross mucosal findings of stomach in cases of fatal poisoning- An autopsy study

Background & Objectives: Poisoning is most commonly encountered cause of death in medico legal autopsies. Diagnosis of poisoning is based on post-mortem examination and chemical analysis of viscera. Chemical analysis of viscera by FSL is time consuming process and sometimes it cannot detect poison. Present study can be helpful there to make diagnosis of poison from gross mucosal findings in stomach. Methods: Present study was conducted on randomly selected 150 cases of poisoning from total autopsies performed in year 2012 at department of forensic medicine, PDU govt. medical college, Rajkot. To study gross mucosal findings of stomach, it was divided into three parts namely cardiac end, body-fundus and pylorus. Gross mucosal findings like pale, congestion, haemorrhage, erosion, flatten rugae, edema, colour changes were noted. Results: Haemorrhage and congestion of mucosa were found most commonly, irrespective of type of poison and site of stomach affected. Pylorus and body fundus of stomach were more affected in all cases of poison except ALP poison where cardiac end was more affected. Interpretation & Conclusions: On the basis of the gross findings of stomach mucosa, combining with other data (history, clinical findings) diagnosis of poisoning can be made but to confirm the nature of poison chemical analysis is must.