Inpatient Burden and Mortality of Methanol Intoxication in the United States

This study aimed to assess inpatient prevalence, characteristics, outcomes, and resource utilization of hospitalization for methanol intoxication in the United States.

A total of 603 hospitalized patients with a primary diagnosis of methanol intoxication from 2003 to 2014 were identified in the National Inpatient Sample database. The inpatient prevalence, clinical characteristics, treatments, outcomes, resource utilization, were investigated. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to identify factors independently associated with in-hospital mortality.

The overall inpatient prevalence of methanol intoxication among hospitalized patients was 6.4 cases per 1,000,000 admissions in the United States. The mean age was 38±18 (range 0-86) years. 44% used methanol for suicidal attempts. 20% of admissions required mechanical ventilation, and 40% required renal replacement therapy. The three most common complications were metabolic acidosis (44%), hypokalemia (18%), and visual impairment or optic neuritis (8%). The three most common end-organ failures were renal failure (22%), respiratory failure (21%), and neurological failure (17%). 6.5% died in the hospital. Factors associated with increased in-hospital mortality included alcohol drinking, hypernatremia, renal failure, respiratory failure, circulatory failure, and neurological failure. The mean length of hospital stay was 4.0 days. The mean hospitalization cost per patient was $43,222 CONCLUSION: The inpatient prevalence of methanol intoxication in the United States was 6.4 cases per 1,000,000 admissions. The risk of in-hospital mortality mainly depended on the number of end-organ failures.