Clinical Profile of Poisoning in Children Admitted in a Tertiary Care Centre

Background Accidental poisoning is one of the important causes of childhood morbidity and mortality. The pattern of poisoning has been changing with new hazards constantly appearing due to introduction of new drugs and chemicals. Childhood poisoning is usually accidental making poisoning a preventable problem. As we lack concrete data about poisoning in children from our region, we decided to undertake this study to quantify the problem of childhood poisoning so that effective steps can be taken up to educate the parents and the caretakers to prevent this common problem in the vulnerable pediatric population. Materials& Methods All poisoning cases admitted in Pediatric Emergency Department in a tertiary care centre over a period of two years were studied prospectively regarding prevalence of poisoning, common types of poisons encountered, most common age group involved, and seasonal variation in the occurrence of poisoning and the complications and outcome of children admitted with poisoning. Children with doubtful history of food poisoning and idiosyncratic reactions to drugs were excluded from the study. Results Out of 6398 pediatric admissions to the emergency department during the study period, 183 (2.86 %) were due to poisoning. The commonest poison consumed was kerosene (50 %) followed by acids/alkalis (13 %) and pesticide/insecticide (6.02 %). Maximum number of poisonings was accidental in nature and mostly in the age group of 1-3yr (64 %), males were more frequently affected than females with a ratio of 1.561, more cases occurred in rural areas and during summer season. Poisoning due to bites and stings was 44.26 % of total cases with 58 % due to snake bites and 24.7 % due to scorpion stings. Most of the bites and stings were in males from rural areas in the age group of 10-12yr.2 cases were admitted due to inhalation of diesel fumes& instilled almond oil in the nose.5 cases expired due to ingested poison and 3 cases expired due to bites and stings.