TY  - JOUR
PY  - 1974//
TI  - Epidemiology of acute drug intoxications: patient characteristics, drugs, and medical complications
JO  - Clinical toxicology (Dekker)
A1  - Stewart, R. B.
A1  - Forgnone, M.
A1  - May, F. E.
A1  - Forbes, J.
A1  - Cluff, L. E.
SP  - 513
EP  - 530
VL  - 7
IS  - 5
N2  - Of 415 adult patients treated for acute drug intoxications in a university hospital emergency room, 64 (15.4%) required admission to the medical service for intensive care. A significantly larger proportion of patients over 40 years of age required hospitalization. Forty-eight of the episodes requiring hospitalization were identified as intentional drug intoxication. Women were admitted in 41 (64.0%) instances while men were admitted on 23 (36.0%) occasions. Non-barbiturate depressants, barbiturates, tranquilizers, and antidepressants were the drug classes most commonly incriminated. Almost one-half of all patients, however, had taken multiple drugs. Medical complications in these 64 patients included coma in 43 (67.2%), acute hypertension or hypotension in 21 (32.8%), and pneumonia in 16 (25%). Complications occurring less frequently were cardiac arrest in three (4.7%), anemia in two (3.2%), neuropathies, soft tissue necrosis, quadraplegia, renal failure, bullous dermatitis, and fetal death in one patient each. Two (3.2%) patients died as a result of drug ingestions. Forty per cent of patients had experienced previous episodes of acute drug intoxication.<p /> <p>Language: en</p> 
LA  - en
SN  - 0009-9309
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/15563657408988024
ID  - ref1
ER  -