• Ertan Mert and Nursel Gamsiz Bilgin.
• Family Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine, Mersin University Medical Faculty Hospital, Mersin, Turkey. drertanmert@yahoo.com
• Hum Exp Toxicol. 2006 Apr 1; 25 (4): 217-23.

BackgroundAs acute poisoning continues to be an important public health problem, and represents a frequent cause of admission in emergency departments, there is a constant need to have up to date information about it. The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the demographical, aetiological and clinical characteristics of acute poisonings who were admitted to a university hospital in the south part of Turkey.MethodsThe data of 195 acute poisoning patients who were admitted to the Emergency Department of Mersin University were retrospectively studied.ResultsMost poisonings occurred in the age range 0-6 years (57.5%) for children and 17-25 year (46.7%) for adults. The overall female to male ratio was 1.26. Drugs were the most common cause of poisonings (55.4%). Among the drug poisonings, psychotropics (41.7%) were the most frequent agent, followed by analgesics (20.4%). 67.7% of the cases presented to the emergency department within 3 hours of poisoning and the procedures for elimination of poison were performed in most of them. The clinical status of the patients on arrival was generally good. 69.2% of the patients were hospitalized. The mean duration of hospitalization was 2.4+/-2.8 days. 41.8% of the suicidal cases had a history of psychiatric disorders; 92.8% of the patients were discharged home after toxicological treatment; 2.6% of the cases died.ConclusionFurther studies are necessary to collect more data and these data will be helpful not only for determining risk factors of acute poisonings but also for developing education and prevention programmes.

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