INTOXICATION IN CHILDREN
Meral A, Donmez O, Baytan B
Department of Pediatrics,
Uludag Univ. Faculty of Medicine,
Gorukle-Bursa, Turkey
Objective:
Intoxication in childhood is one of the major issue. Although it is
frequently resulted from careless behavior of adults, each center might
have different etiologic causes and treatment approaches of which should be
discussed.
Methods: In this
study, we prospectively evaluated the clinical status of 98 children with
intoxication hospitalized in pediatric intensive care unit.
Results: Mean age was
5.4±4.1 year. Of the 98 children, 51 (52%) were female and 47 (48%)
patients were male. Mean hospitalization period was 5.1±4.5 days. The major
causes of intoxication was drugs (n: 52, 53%) taken accidentally. This was
followed by carbonmonoxide (n: 22, 23%). Hemoperfusion and hemodialysis
were successfully performed in two children with mushroom and salicylate
poisonings, respectively.
Conclusion: We conclude
that the parents should keep drugs away from children in safe places. Since
carbonmonoxide is a frequent cause of intoxication in our region, people
should be both warned about it and informed how to take preventive
measures.