A Fatal Case of Septic Tank Gas Poisoning: Critical Care Challenges

Deaths due to poisoning continue to haunt the medical practice. Poisoning could be due to accidental, suicidal or homicidal reasons. Certain poisons do not have antidotes and can be rapidly fatal. The victims generally succumb either due to the deleterious effects of the toxic substance per-se or due to secondary phenomenon or multi-organ failure. Septic tanks are dangerous as they contain a variety of sewer gases which can be highly toxic when inhaled and result in various complications, including death. We hereby report a fatal case of accidental poisoning due to septic tank gases in a young patient and the associated critical care challenges.