Retrospective study of addictive drug-induced acute toxicity of cases admitted to the Poison Control Centre of Ain Shams University Hospital (2015–2016)

Abstract

Background: The acute toxicity with addictive drugs is one of the most common problems in the emergency department. This is a global problem affecting societies as it deals with young people at the age of work and productivity. This study aims to recognize the prevalence of addictive drug-induced acute toxicity regarding socio-demographic factors, common clinical presentation, and outcome of management. Methods: This is a descriptive retrospective study conducted on patients admitted to the Poison Control Centre of Ain Shams University Hospital during the period between the start of January 2015 and the end of December 2016. The total number of cases was 803 cases collected and analyzed regarding the socio-demographic data, condition of poisoning, prevalence of addictive drugs, route of intake, common clinical presentation, management plan, and final outcome of management. Data was analyzed using the computer software package SPSS 22. Results: A total of 803 cases were reviewed, their age ranged from 1 month to 83 years with mean ± SD 21.6 ± 16.8 years, and most cases were male (72.9%), living in urban areas (67.4%), and of single marital status (66.6%). Accidental overdose characterized most (86.8%) cases. Tramadol was the most commonly abused drug (36.5%), and most of the drugs were ingested orally. Disturbed conscious level was the most common clinical presentation in all drugs, and most of the cases were vitally stable and had normal sodium, potassium, ABG, and blood glucose level. Most of the cases received medical treatment in ICU (60%) and 93.5% improved while 6.5% died. Conclusions: Drug abuse is a serious problem in many countries especially among young males. Tramadol abuse and toxicity is increasing every day in the Egyptian community. Like other cases of poisoning, treatment of acute toxicity with addictive drugs is mainly supportive and symptomatic.

Acute Toxicity of Abused Drugs in Minia Poison Control Center

“…Drug abuse is one of the most serious threats in several countries (Lim et al, 2012), so this retrospective study was aimed to estimate the incidence of acute toxicity of abused drugs at Poison Control Center (PCC) of Minia University Hospital. The present study was conducted on 375 patients of age from 6 months to 58 years, 71.5% of patients were adult (>19 years), 26.1% were adolescents (10-19 years) and 2.4% were children (< 10 years) (table 1) which were similar to (Zaki et al, 2019) who reported that 49.6 % of cases in age group 18-40 years and 27.5 % of cases in age group 2-18 years. This can be explained by the fact that at the age of 18, people begin to miss their family's interest especially in males.…”

“…The longest duration of hospital stay occurred in methanol toxicity (mean 6.12), followed by tropicamide & tramadol (3.69), then tramadol (3.46). This can be explained as patients presented to hospital with severe clinical manifestation so need to be treated in intensive care and after improvement they moved to inpatient wards these in agreement with (Zaki et al;2019).…”

The trend of top five types of poisonings in hospitalized patients based on ICD‐10 in the northeast of Iran during 2012–2018: A cross‐sectional study

“…Drug poisoning is more common than other poisonings and it can be used intentionally (suicide) or unintentionally (accidental) 6 . Drug abuse is a serious problem in many countries, especially among young men 7 . Behavioral factors such as cigarette and cannabis use and psychological and personality factors including depression and impulsive and anxious traits, increase the risk of drug abuse day by day, which can lead to drug poisoning 8,9 …”

Development a national minimum data set for poisoning registry in Iran

“…8 In Asian countries, poisoning is regarded as one of the external causes of mortality, as well as the most common form of self-injury. 9,10 In Japan, more than 20 000 people are hospitalized annually due to drug poisoning. 11,12 At present, Iran is a country with over 80 million populations 13 and poisoning among them is considered as one of the most common causes of morbidity-related injuries and mortality.…”

“…Drug poisoning is considered to be the main cause of admission to emergency wards in Japan, the USA, and some other countries 8 . In Asian countries, poisoning is regarded as one of the external causes of mortality, as well as the most common form of self‐injury 9,10 . In Japan, more than 20 000 people are hospitalized annually due to drug poisoning 11,12 .…”