Citation

Herve C, Gaillard M, Martel S, Huguenard P. Acta Anaesthesiol. Belg. 1984; 35(Suppl): 353-359.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1984, Acta Medica Belgica)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

6516744

Abstract

By serious suicides we mean all suicide attempts in which the wish to die was clearly expressed by the patient. Hospitalization in intensive care is indispensable (lasting 3 days on average, 1 to 34 days in extreme cases). From January 1977 to December 1982, 156 patients, aged 10 to 55, were admitted on the basis of this criterion (i.g. 6 1/2% of all our patients), 60% of them men. The mode of suicide was often violent: voluntary fall: (44 or 28%) 15 dead; hanging: (11 or 7%) 3 dead; fire arms: (48 or 30%) 23 dead; knife wounds: (13 or 7%) 2 dead; drug and/or chemical poisoning: (33 or 23%) 6 dead; others: (7 or 5%) 4 dead. In 34% of the cases (54 cases), death was immediate. For longterm results the follow-up lasts from 6 months to 6 years. Only 12 patients (7 1/2%) had attempted to kill themselves prior to their admission in our service. Out of the 103 patients still alive, 30 (29%) were contacted on the phone, and agreed to answer the questionnaire, whatever their mode of suicide, sex or age. The survey focused on their medico-surgical problems, their socio-professional activities, both previous and subsequent to hospitalization. Whatever the diagnosis at the moment of hospitalization, no disabling after-effects were noticed among the subjects. Only 3 of our patients (2,8%) have made a second attempt, 2 of which have been fatal. The results of this survey show the beneficial action of emergency medical aid and intensive care in the treatment of suicides, which represent a unique event in the patient's life rather than a chronic psychiatric syndrome. In the long term these results preclude further attempts or advice to commit suicide.

Language: en