Citation

Spiller HA, Beuhler MC, Ryan ML, Borys DJ, Aleguas A, Bosse GM. Pediatr. Emerg. Care 2013; 29(5): 635-640.

Affiliation

From the *Central Ohio Poison Center, Columbus, OH; †Carolinas Poison Center, Charlotte; ‡School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC; §Louisiana Poison Center; ∥Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center-Shreveport, Shreveport, LA; ¶Central Texas Poison Center, Scott and White Healthcare, Temple, TX; #Northern Ohio Poison Center, Cleveland, OH; **Kentucky Regional Poison Control Center of Kosair Children's Hospital; and ††Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

10.1097/PEC.0b013e31828e9d00

PMID

23603655

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The nature of pediatric poisonings is dynamic, with changes occurring over time. We evaluated poisoning in children younger than 6 years for trends during an 11-year period regarding the substances involved in the poisoning, medical outcomes, and health care use. METHODS: This was retrospective study of poisoning in children younger than 6 years reported to 12 poison centers in 5 US states for the years 2000 through 2010. Data abstracted included substance category involved in the exposure, age of patient, year of occurrence, location of patient management, and medical outcome. RESULTS: There were 2,577,036 poison exposures in children younger than 6 years, with a 12.4% increase from 210,270 poison exposures in 2000 to 236,425 poison exposures in 2010. There was a 33% increase (P < 0.05) in pharmaceutical related exposures in children younger than 6 years and a 2.8% decline in the number of nonpharmaceutical related exposures. Among those substance categories representing more than 1% of exposures, the only pharmaceutical showing decline was cough/cold preparations. There was a 53% increase in serious medical outcomes, including 119 deaths and a significant increase in health care facility use, primarily owing to pharmaceutical exposures. CONCLUSIONS: Poisoning in young children increasingly involves pharmaceuticals and is associated with an increased number of serious outcomes and children treated in a health care facility. We believe that these changes are related to increased availability of medications in the home and poison prevention education efforts should include a focus on the availability of these products to small children.

Language: en