Retrospective Analysis of Demographic, Epidemiologic, and Clinical Characteristics of Poisoning Cases Followed in Pediatric Intensive Care Unit

Introduction:The aim of this study was to investigate demographic, epidemiologic, and clinical characteristics of cases admitted to pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) for poisoning.Methods:Cases with poisoning admitted to PICU between January 1, 2015 and June 30, 2016 were evaluated retrospectively.Results:Ninety two cases were enrolled in this study. The mean age was 63.65±59.1 months and 73.9% of the cases were under 5 years of age. Fifty five point four percent of the cases were male. Of the poisoning cases, 82.6% were accidental and 14.1% were suicidal. Seventy seven point two percent of the cases were drug related and 18.3% of them were multi-drug poisonings. Central nervous system drugs were the most frequently (24.2%) ingested drugs. The most common cause of non-drug poisonings were pesticide and insecticides (42.8%). The median duration of time from ingestion to admission to the pediatric emergency department was 60 (10-2880) minutes. Of the cases, 31.5% were symptomatic. Gastric lavage and activated charcoal were performed in 65.2% and 72.8% of the cases, respectively. Continuous venovenous hemodiafiltration was performed in 3 cases. The mean time of PICU and hospital stay were 19.53±14.37 and 35.91±29.46 hours, respectively. During the study period, one case died due to acute poisoning of alpha-lipoic acid.Conclusion:Pediatric poisonings are among the most common reasons for referrals to emergency department, admission to hospital and represent a preventable cause of morbidity and mortality. Parental education about prevention of poisoning and keeping drugs and household products out of children’s reach is important because most of the poisonings occur at home with drugs and household products. Recognition of epidemiologic and clinical characteristics of pediatric poisoning by healthcare providers is also important for rapid diagnosis and treatment.