A Retrospective Analysis of Childhood Poisoning

Childhood poisonings are among the major causes of the admission to emergency units. In this study, we aimed retrospectively to determine the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of childhood poisoning among our patients. This study consisted of 1168 cases who admitted to pediatric emergency unit of our institution due to poisoning between 01/01/2011 and 14/06/2015. Poisonings were common at 13 - 48 months (44.18%). The most common poisoning agent was drugs with 545 cases (47.9%),while the second common factor was carbon monoxide poisoning with 283 cases (24.9%). Analgesic / antipyretic agents and muscle relaxants were common agents that leads to drug poisonings(127cases, 21.67%); getting multi drugs(20.3%) and mood stabilizers followed them. Among mood stabilizers, tricyclic antidepressants were the most causes of drug poisonings. 792 cases(67.8%) exposed to poisoning agent by digestion (67.8%) and 301cases (25.7%) by inhalation. Drugs appeared to be primer poisoning agents in our study. Unlike the previous studies in Turkey; poisoning by opioid analgesics and anti-neoplastic agents were also found. Although childhood poisonings are often circumvented without sequelae, they are stil major causes of admission to emergency units