Indications of a Major Cause of Hospitalization in Intensive Care: Child and Adolescent Acute Poisoning

Aim: Acute poisoning is an important health problem in pediatric patients. The aim of this study is to evaluate the epidemiological and clinical signs and treatment results of the children with acute poisoning. Methods: All of the cases that admitted to the children hospital between September 2012 and June 2014 enrolled to the study. File records of cases was retrospectively evaluated. Age, gender, admission season, intended purpose of agent, feature of agent, ingested route, symptoms, physical examination findings, mental state, applied treatments and intensive care needs were recorded. Results: 65 males, 63 girls were included to the study. 57.8% of patients were under the age of 5. The most admission seasons were autumn (50.8%) and summer (26.6%). Ten cases, mostly girls, had suicidal ingestion. In all cases, except one, oral poisoning had occurred. Three patients were mentally handicapped. The most frequent symptoms and signs during admission were nausea and vomiting (10.9%) and lethargy (7.8%). Before admission, the majority of patients (68.0%) had undergone gastric lavage and activated charcoal. Intensive care was required in 21 (16.4%) patients. Pharmacological or non-pharmacological intoxication were not related with intensive care need. Hospitalization duration was significantly longer in patient hospitalized in intensive care unit. The age of the patients who need intensive care were lower than those without. Nine (7.0%) patients died during follow-up in intensive care. Death mostly had occurred as a result of non-pharmacological intoxication. Conclusion: Acute poisoning cases among the important reasons for emergency visits, and can result in significant morbidity and mortality. Therefore, this issue of parents and health professionals to increase their level of knowledge in daily practice is important to consider acute intoxication.