TY - JOUR PY - 2013// TI - Acute poisoning in children under the age of six: a two-decade study of hospital admissions and trends JO - Acta paediatrica A1 - Hoikka, Mh A1 - Liisanantti, Jh A1 - Dunder, T. SP - e329 EP - 33 VL - 102 IS - 7 N2 - AIM: To evaluate the incidence, clinical features and outcome of acute poisoning in children of less than six-years-of-age in Northern Finland. METHODS: Children hospitalized with acute poisoning at the Oulu university hospital between 1991-2010 were retrospectively evaluated from hospital records. RESULTS: There were 334 hospital admissions due to acute poisoning during the study period, with an overall incidence rate of 5.2 per 10,000 per year, decreasing slightly from 6.7 in 1991-1995 to 4.5 in 2006-2010. Mean length of a hospital stay was 1.2 (SD ± 1.26) days. The most common substances ingested were terbutaline (12.3%), benzodiazepines (12.0%) and dishwasher powder (9.3%). Almost half of the patients were admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, but most only required supportive care. Specific antidotes were administered in 16 cases. Three patients suffered from aspiration pneumonia as a result of ingesting poison, but no children died during the study. CONCLUSION: Poisoning is a fairly common cause of hospital admission in children under the age of six. In most cases their clinical condition is good and they can be discharged after a short surveillance period. © 2013 Foundation Acta Paediatrica. Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Language: en

LA - en SN - 0803-5253 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/apa.12238 ID - ref1 ER -