• Hak-Soo Jang, Jung-Youn Kim, Sung-Hyuk Choi, Young-Hoon Yoon, Sung-Woo Moon, Yun-Sik Hong, and Sung-Woo Lee.
• Department of Emergency Medicine, Korea University Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
• J. Korean Med. Sci. 2013 Oct 1; 28 (10): 1424-30.

AbstractSocial factors may affect the available sources of toxic substances and causes of poisoning; and these factors may change over time. Additionally, understanding the characteristics of patients with acute toxic poisoning is important for treating such patients. Therefore, this study investigated the characteristics of patients with toxic poisoning. Patients visiting one of 3 hospitals in 2003 and 2011 were included in this study. Data on all patients who were admitted to the emergency departments with acute toxic poisoning were retrospectively obtained from medical records. Total 939 patients were analyzed. The average age of patients was 40.0 ± 20 yr, and 335 (36.9%) patients were men. Among the elements that did not change over time were the facts that suicide was the most common cause, that alcohol consumption was involved in roughly 1 of 4 cases, and that there were more women than men. Furthermore, acetaminophen and doxylamine remained the most common poisoning agents. In conclusion, the average patient age and psychotic drug poisoning has increased over time, and the use of lavage treatment has decreased.

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