A retrospective analysis of antidepressant poisonings in the emergency department: 11-year experience

Between 1993 and 2004, patients with antidepressant poisoning admitted to an emergency department (ED) were analysed retrospectively with regard to demographics, clinical findings and treatment attempts. Age, gender, suicide attempts, classification of antidepressants, Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score, ECG findings, need for endotracheal intubation, follow-up period and Antidepressant Overdose Risk Assessment (ADORA) criteria were analysed by SPSS software. A total of 356 antidepressant poisoning cases were evaluated. Tricyclic antidepressants (TCA), especially opipramol and amitriptyline, were the most common agents (58.4%). The most frequent ECG finding was sinus tachycardia (40.7%, n=145). Endotracheal intubation was required in 9.6% of cases. Patients with TCA ingestion had a longer observation time in the ED, abnormal ECG findings, abnormal physical examination findings and more ADORA criteria, than patients who ingested selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRI) (P=0.008, P=0.008, P