Differences in acute childhood poisoning: A single center experience

Abstract

Introduction: Characteristics of acute childhood poisonings may change over time in the same populations. The aim of this study is to compare the demographic characteristics of poisoning children presenting to the same center at different times. Methods: This study was conducted among children aged 0-16 years who presented with the complaint of poisoning to our center in 2010 and 2016.The demographic characteristics of the poisoning cases were evaluated from the emergency records and the findings of both years were compared with each other. Results: The mean age of 404 cases in Group 2010 and 398 cases in Group 2016 were 6.5 ± 5.1 years and 4.7 ± 4.6 years, respectively (p = 0.001). Drug poisonings were in the first place in both groups, the group was 61.6% in 2010 and 49.7% in 2016 (p = 0.001). Gas poisoning was observed at a rate of 19.2% in the Group 2010 and 10.1% in the Group 2016 (p = 0.0001). When Group 2010 and Group 2016 were compared, poisoning with corrosive substances was observed with a frequency of 13.8% in Group 2010 and 29.4% in Group 2016. The rate of accidental poisoning cases was 77.3 % in Group 2010 and 81.9 % in Group 2016 (p = 0.001). Conclusions: There was a decrease in drug and gas intoxications, but an increase in intoxications with caustic substances. It is thought that the increase in accidental poisoning can be prevented by increasing the awareness and education of the society on this issue.