@article{ref1,
title="The epidemiology and management of adult poisonings admitted to the short-stay ward of a large Scottish emergency department",
journal="Scottish medical journal",
year="2013",
author="Teo, Aic and Cooper, Jg",
volume="58",
number="3",
pages="149-153",
abstract="BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The emergency department of Aberdeen Royal Infirmary receives around 68,000 new adult admissions annually. All poisoning cases are admitted to a 14-bedded short-stay ward, except those admitted to intensive care or immediately discharged. This study aimed to analyse epidemiological trends and management of short-stay ward admissions for poisonings. METHOD AND RESULTS: Adult (>13 years) poisoning presentations admitted to the emergency department short-stay ward of Aberdeen Royal Infirmary from 1 January-31 December 2009 were retrospectively reviewed using patient discharge summaries. During 2009, there were 1062 poisoning cases, of which repeat episodes were responsible for 15%. The mean age of presentation was 33.9 years (SD 14.4) and there was a female preponderance (62%). Almost half of poisonings were polypharmacy, alcohol was involved in 40% of cases and overdoses most commonly involved paracetamol (43%). Management involved basic observations only (66%), N-acetylcysteine (24%), naloxone (4%) and activated charcoal (1%). Liaison psychiatry reviewed 84% presentations and admitted 9% to the psychiatric unit. CONCLUSIONS: The short-stay ward is important for acute management of poisonings and the data gained from this study should help to direct patient services appropriately.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0036-9330",
doi="10.1177/0036933013496951",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0036933013496951"
}