Retrospective Evaluation of Adult Poisoning Cases Admitted to Emergency Department of a University Hospital in Turkey

Abstract

Objective: We aimed to evaluate demographic, etiological, clinical features, and prognosis of poisoning cases applied to a tertiary emergency department retrospectively. Materials and Methods: The recordings of poisoning cases aged 18 years old and over which applied to the department of emergency medicine between the dates of 2010–2015 were examined. Age, gender, admission date, amount of time passed since exposure to the poisonous substance, application method, cause of poisoning, laboratory findings at arrival, vital signs, type of poisonous substance, the way of taking, treatment method in urgent care, consultation need, and the outcome of cases were recorded. Results: Of the poisoning cases, 437 (52.1%) were female, and 402 (47.9%) were male. The mean age was calculated as 33.50. When the cause of poisonings are examined; 456 patients were found to be poisoned by a suicide attempt, 350 were accidentally poisoned, and 33 were poisoned by treatment complication. As the causing substance of poisoning, medicinal drugs were found in 465 cases (55.4%), carbon monoxide in 205 cases (24.4%), and narcotics in 119 cases (14.2%). Of medicinal drug poisonings, 221 (46.8%) were multiple drug intake. It was seen that 46.6% of the patients were kept under observation with only symptomatic treatment while nasogastric lavage and activated charcoal were applied in 40.2% of them. Conclusion: It can be suggested that poisonings are encountered more commonly in young people, especially in women, with medicinal drugs and for suicidal purposes. Drugs detected at high rates in poisonings, such as painkillers and antidepressants, should be used more cautiously.

Keywords: Emergency service, poisonings, retrospective