The Experiences in a Toxicology Unit: A Review of 623 Cases

Abstract

BackgroundTo evaluate the etiological and demographic characteristics of adult poisoning patients followed up in a toxicology unit in Konya, Turkey.MethodsPatients (≥ 15 years old) followed up with the diagnosis of poisoning in our toxicology unit in 2011 were included in this retrospective study. The patients’ medical records were investigated. Age, gender, medical history, the first medical center the patient had been admitted to, the routes and causes of poisoning, the toxins involved, the number of the pills taken, treatments, complications, the length of stay in the hospital and the outcome were recorded.ResultsA total of 623 patients were included in the study. The mean age of patients was 28.1 ± 15.1. Four hundred and forty-five (71.4%) of patients were female, 541 (86.9%) of them were poisoned via the oral route and 75 (12.0%) of them were poisoned by inhalation. The causes of poisoning were drugs in 408 (65.5%) patients, pesticides/insecticides in 58 (9.3%) patients and carbon monoxide in 49 (7.9%) patients. The commonly used drugs were as follows: analgesics (57.2%), antidepressants (25.4%) and gastrointestinal system drugs (15.8%). The poisonings were suicidal in 489 (78.5%) patients, accidental in 120 (19.3%) patients and overdose in 14 (2.2%) patients. The number of women was higher in the suicide group. At the end of the treatment, 604 (97.0%) of the patients were discharged and 3 (0.4%) of them died. The duration of follow-up was 39.2 ± 37.5 h.ConclusionThe most common causes of poisoning are drugs, pesticides/insecticides and carbon monoxide. Health and educational policies at a national level are needed in order to prevent this medicosocial problem. Furthermore, specially equipped toxicology units should be constructed for the treatment and follow-up of the poisoned patients in order to reduce the morbidity and mortality to a significant extent.

Patterns of Acute Poisoning Among Patients Treated in the Emergency Wards of a Tertiary Care Hospital: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…Oral ingestion was the common route employed in poisoning (81.2%) while exposure routes such as inhalation, dermal, and ocular did not demonstrate much significance. This came in accordance with a study conducted at a tertiary care hospital where the poison intake was predominantly oral [16]. With regard to the location (82%), poisonings occurred at home usually in the late evening hours similar to a study conducted by Sulaj et al [17], the physical forms in which the poisoning agents have been consumed by the victims in higher quantities were in solid forms (60.2%).…”

Profile differences between overdose and non-overdose suicide attempts in a multi-ethnic Asian society

“…Due to lack of data from the sources, it was a challenge to identify the motivating factors for choosing OD over NOD methods. However, the near significant gender difference in suicide methods observed in our results, mirrored evidence in the literature that women tend to use less violent suicide methods like poisoning [20, 21] as compared to men who tend to use NOD methods such as hanging [22]. …”

A Retrospective Analysis of Intoxicated Patients in Our Intensive Care Unit

“…ise Konya'da 623 hastayı içeren çalışmalarında, %65,5 oranında ilaçla zehirlenme olduğunu, ilaçla zehirlenmelerde %57,2 analjezik, %25,4 antidepresan kullanıldığını belirtmişlerdir. 21 Çalışmamızda ise ilaç dağılımının %34,6'sının analjezik-antiinflamatuar, %29,3'ünün antidepresanlarla oluştuğu saptanmıştır. İlaçla zehirlenmede en sık kullanılan ajanların antidepresan ve analjezik-antiinflamatuar olmasının tedavi amacıyla sık reçete edilen ilaçlardan olmalarının yanı sıra reçetesiz kolay temin edi-len ilaçlar olmalarından da kaynaklandığı düşünülmektedir.…”