Results: A total of 4096 poisoned cases were analysed. There were 1871 male patients (45.7%), 2203 female patients (53.8%) and 22 sex unspecified patients (0.5%). The majority of the cases (63.1%) were between 20 and 59 years old. Common causes for poisoning were suspected self-harm/suicidal attempt (36.3%), unintentional exposure (18.4%) and abusive use (13.1%). Excluding the common co-ingestant ethanol, the five commonest types of poisons were benzodiazepines, paracetamol, household products, zopiclone and Chinese herbal medicine. Most patients were managed with supportive measures, while 14.3% and 12.9% of them were treated by decontamination and antidotes, respectively. Majority of the cases had uneventful recovery; 1% resulted in death and 3.9% had major outcomes. Six interesting cases and three poisoning outbreaks were discussed. Conclusion: This 11th annual report provided the updated epidemiological information on poisoning pattern in Hong Kong and highlighted important changes in comparing with our previous reports.

Objectives: To report and analyse the poisoning data of Hong Kong Poison Information Centre in 2017. Methods: In 2017, all poisoning cases received by Hong Kong Poison Information Centre were retrieved from its database (Poison Information and Clinical Management System) for analysis. Results: A total of 3956 poisoned cases were analysed. There were 1789 male patients (45.2%), 2159 female patients (54.6%) and 8 sex-unspecified patients (0.2%). The majority of cases (59.9%) were between 20 and 59 years old. The common causes of poisoning were suspected self-harm/suicidal attempt (36.2%), unintentional exposure (18.6%) and abusive substance use (13.7%). Excluding the common co-ingestant ethanol, the five commonest types of poison were benzodiazepines, paracetamol, zopiclone, Chinese herbal medicine and household products. Most patients were managed with supportive measures, while 17.4% and 13.2% of consultation cases were treated by decontamination and antidotes, respectively. The majority of the cases had uneventful recovery; 1.1% resulted in death and 4.3% had major outcomes. A total of 13 interesting cases and 1 poisoning outbreak were discussed. Conclusion: This 12th annual report provided the updated epidemiological information on poisoning pattern in Hong Kong and highlighted important changes in comparison with our previous reports.