Evaluation of childhood poisoning in Isparta region

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the patients who presented with intoxication case to our Children Emergency Department of Süleyman Demirel University Medical Faculty Hospital, retrospectively. Methods: The patients, who were admitted to our children emergency service between the dates July 2013 and July 2014 were searched retrospectively. The age, sex, the admission time, the admission duration, the way of intoxication, symptoms, the items caused intoxication, the aim of taking the item and the hospital stay of the cases were evaluated. Results: For the study, the files of 82 patients aged from 1 to 18 years (mean 8,9±6,3 years) were scanned; 50 (60.9%) cases were female, 32 (39.1%) were male. Intoxication cases constituted 3.6% of all cases admitted to the children’s emergency unit over one year period. A high proportion (51%) of intoxication cases were between 1 and 5 years of age. Thirty of the thirty (100%) patients that were intoxicated because of a suicide attempt were girls and all of them were over 12 years of age. The most common substance for intoxication was drugs (76%), followed by insecticides and herbal (6.5%). Amon the medication, cold relief drugs (14%), antidepressant (13%) and paracetamol (12%) drugs were most common. Conclusion: Poisoning shows a peak in two periods of childhood and adolescence in this study. We think that accidental ingestion in childhood can be prevented by parents’ education and simple precautions in general. In addition, we recommend that families should demonstrate appropriate approaches, especially with regards to the psychology of adolescent girls, and, if necessary, get help from a specialist.