Objective:
Intoxication is a process of taking potentially harmful substances into human body. The intoxicating agents differ from country to country, region to region, from time to time and from culture to culture. Our aim was to work out the differences between children admitted to our emergency department at different time periods.
Material and Methods:
We retrospectively evaluated the archives of S.B. Okmeydanı İstanbul Training and Research Hospital between 01.01.2010 and 31.12.2010. All children admitted with intoxication were included. We classified them by age, gender, intoxicating substance, reason of intoxication, the time lap between ingestion of the toxic substance and admittance. The results were compared with results of previous study made between 1995 and 1997 in the same emergency unit.
Results:
In the previous study there were 446 patients between 0-13 age of whom 53.4 % were male, whereas in new study there were 470 patients between 0-16 age of whom 45,5 % were male. In the previous and present study, the most frequent causative intoxicating agents were drugs with 59,2 % (n:264) ve 54,0% (n:254) repectively. In the old study the most frequent drug was salicylat 6,5 % (n:29), while in the new study it was parasetamol 7,5 % (n:35). There was increase in costic chemical agent ingestion and decrease in food and mushroom intoxication. There was increase in the rate of suicidal intoxication from 0.44 % to 6 %.
Conclusion:
Drugs continue to be the most frequent intoxicating agents and paracetamol the highest in frequency.while the frequency of salycylate and mushroom intoxications are decreasing corrosive substance intoxications are increasing. Adolescent suicidal intoxication is alarmingly increasing. Our community needs more family, school and social environment cooperation to prevent this problem.
Keywords: child, poisoning