Objective:
Our aim was to evaluate the poisoning cases which applied our Pediatric Emergency Department in Ümraniye Training and Research Hospital.
Material and Methods:
The epidemiological and clinical characteristics of the poisoning cases (n=957 ); aged between 1 month-16 years who had applied to Ümraniye Training and Research Hospital Pediatric Emergency Unit (standard deviation: 5.67±5.06), between the dates of January 1st 2010 and July 1st 2012; were evaluated retrospectively.
Results:
Childhood poisoning accounted for 0.4 % of the total pediatric emergency visits. 504 of the cases (%52.7) were female whereas 453 (%47.3) were male. According to the age groups; 13 months-4 years group consisted 36.9%, 12-16 years 23.2% and 0-12 months 21.6 % of all cases respectively. Accidental poisonings were 80,4 % and suicidal poisonings were 19.6% in all cases. The 94.1% of the suicidal attempts were at 12-16 age group. Suicidal poisonings were statistically significantly more often (84%) in girls. It was observed that the most common agents responsible for poisoning were drugs (%64.4, n=616), carbonmonoxide/NFIA inhalation ( 17.6%, n=168) and causticcorrosive substance exposure (9,1%, n=87). The most common agents responsible for drug poisoning were analgesics& antipyretics (22.47%, n=215), central nervous system medication (14.21%, n=136) and cold&flu medication (10.66%, n=102) respectively. It was observed that most of the cases (%64.26) were asymptomatic.
Conclusion:
The number of patients evaluated in our study compared with other studies recently carried out in Turkey is very high, reflecting the demographics of childhood poisoning cases seen in Ümraniye. We hope our study will determine the approach to reducing the guiding.
Keywords: Poisoning, pediatrics, epidemiology