Citation

Akin Y, Ağzikuru T, Cömert S, Atilkan P, Erdağ GC, Telatar B. Turk. J. Pediatr. 2011; 53(4): 369-374.

Affiliation

Department of Pediatrics I, Dr. Lütfi Kirdar Kartal Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2011, Hacettepe Medical Center)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

21980838

Abstract

The objective of this study was to describe the epidemiological features of pediatric patients hospitalized for intoxication. Data were collected from the medical records of children < or =14 years of age, admitted for intoxication in 2005-2007. Of the 2989 admissions, 330 (11%) were intoxication cases; 238 (72.1%) were <5 years old. Pharmaceutic agents were identified in 76.1%. Psychotropics were the most frequently ingested drugs (33.9%), and tricyclic antidepressants were the most common (27.1%). Non-pharmaceutic agents were identified in 79 (23.9%) patients, 54.4% of which were pesticides. The majority of all cases were accidental poisonings (90%), which occurred mostly in children <5 years old (71.5%), mainly by pharmaceutics, followed by self-inflicted intoxications (8.2%), which demonstrated the highest ratio in children >10 years old (6.7%). Intoxications are important especially among children <5 years old. Preventive measures such as implementation of the use of child-proof drug prescription bottles and efforts towards public education may reduce the risks.

Language: en