Paraquat Poisoning Associated With Daisley Barton Syndrome: A Case Report

Pesticides include insecticides, herbicides, and rodenticides. Pesticide poisoning can be intentional, accidental, or occupational. Around 385 million cases of unintentional acute pesticide poisoning occur annually worldwide, with approximately 11,000 fatalities. Herbicides are used to kill weeds and can include chlorophenoxy compounds, bipyridyls, urea-substituted herbicides, organophosphates, and glyphosate. Paraquat is a bipyridyl nonselective contact herbicide with high mortality rates upon exposure in humans. Paraquat poisoning causes acute lung injury, rarely leading to pneumothorax and pneumomediastinum, referred to as Daisley Barton Syndrome. We report a case of a 22-year-old female from Uttarakhand, India, who accidentally ingested paraquat. She was initially asymptomatic, but later developed lung, liver, and kidney injuries as well as pneumomediastinum and pneumothorax.