Poisoning among the pediatric population is an important public health concern that is responsible for frequent pediatric emergency department visits and hospital admissions. Surveillance of poisoning cases is essential for designing and implementing effective preventive strategies.
Describe the characteristics of acute poison exposure and related therapeutic interventions in children aged 12 years and younger.
We prospectively reviewed pediatric poisonings that presented to emergency departments over a period of two years.
The median (IQR) age at the time of exposure was 27 (23–42) months. The most frequently involved substance class was toxic household products in children younger than 6 years and pesticides in children 6 years or older. A frequently involved single agent was paracetamol in younger and older children. The majority of patients (78.7%) were completely asymptomatic at the time of presentation and during the observation period. Almost half of the exposure incidents (47.8%) needed no intervention. Most exposure incidents (95%) did not require any pharmacological support and most (87%) did not require nonpharmacological intervention. Eight (0.7%) patients required intubation and mechanical ventilation. Activated charcoal was administered for 27% of cases. Gastric lavage, whole bowel irrigation, and ipecac were used in a few cases (1%, 0.3%, and 0.1%, respectively). Enhanced elimination interventions were performed for only 0.5% of exposure cases. Only two patients died.
Household products were the commonest reason for pediatric poisonings in Saudi Arabia and most of them were asymptomatic. Our results suggest a need for strategic plans for prevention and care.