Citation

Soave PM, Curatola A, Ferretti S, Raitano V, Conti G, Gatto A, Chiaretti A. Acta Biomed. Ateneo Parmense 2022; 93(1): e2022004.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, Societa di Medicina e scienze naturali di Parma)

DOI

10.23750/abm.v93i1.11602

PMID

35315415

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND AIM: to identify most frequent risk factors and to propose prevention strategies for the children admitted to Pediatric Emergency Department (PED) with acute poisoning.

METHODS: We performed a retrospective study in a tertiary care hospital, describing the frequency and nature of pediatric poisoning, clinical management and outcome.

RESULTS: We collected data of 436 children admitted for acute poisoning. The mean age was 30 months and 51.1% were male. Most poisoning incidents (90.1%) were unintentional and drug ingestion (39.4%) was the leading cause of poisoning. Acute poisoning happened at home in 83,7% of cases and the mother was the most frequent caregiver during the event in 61.5%. No deaths were reported.

CONCLUSION: Our study showed that the two categories of patients at greatest risk for acute poisoning are children under 3 years and adolescents over 12 years. Adequate information campaigns about toxic substances are essential for children, adolescents and their parents.

Language: en