Abstract:

Subject: The aim of this study was to investigate the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of intoxication cases and determine the preventive procedures.Materials and Methods: We evaluated 255 intoxication cases applied to the pediatric emergency room of our hospital between July 2006 and July 2007. The study was performed retrospectively.Results: The mean age of patients was 8.5±4.3 years. A peak was observed between 6 and12 years. The ratio of female/male was 1.17. Carbonmonoxide intoxication was the most common cause of intoxication (49%). Intoxication was occured accidentally in 83.5% of the cases and for the purpose of suicide in the remaining. All the patients applied within 48 hours of intoxication and 50.6% applied within the first hour. Thirthy threee percent of all cases was asymptomatic initially. Nausea was the most common complaint (28.6%) among the symphtomatic patients. The treatment of patients included oxygen inhalation (48.6%), gastric lavage, active carbon ingestion (25.1%), hydration (19.2%), and antidote usage (3.5%). Among all the patients, 57.6% managed in the emergency service, 38.1% managed by hospitalization, and 4.3% managed in the intensive care unit. All the patients were survived. Conclusion: Childhood poisoning is one of the most common cause of admission to hospital. The early notice and appropriate thereapeutic approach for poisoning seemed to be effective and life saving. Family education, keeping drugs in unreachable places for children, unavailability of drugs without prescription, and child-resistant package are important factors to prevent poisoning

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