Article Text
Abstract
Background Acute poisoning is a condition that generates great demand for care in emergency departments of hospitals.
Purpose To find out the epidemiology of severe acute intoxications and study the profile of the intoxicated patients in our hospital.
Materials and Methods Retrospective observational study. Inclusion criteria: patients with final diagnosis of acute intoxication during 2009. Sources: admission management software, clinical histories. Data recorded: age, sex, date of entry, type of toxic agent(s) involved, existence of psychiatric background and previous intoxications. Global analysis: SPSS package.
Results During the study period 1052 requests for analysis were processed with the following results: (see the table below)
Amphetamines (0.19%): 2 men under the age of 20 and 30 years, M: January, DW: weekend. Barbiturates (0.38%): 4 positive, 75% men, A: 42–54. A temporal distribution (week, month year day) cannot be significant in so few cases.
Conclusions For a better understanding of the Spanish reality in terms of acute intoxication referrals, systematic multi-centre, clinical and epidemiological studies are necessary to demonstrate changes in the toxic substance used, the distribution by age, characteristics of subjects, etc. In order to adapt the health care resources, we need to know the diagnosis and any treatment that would contribute to improving the care of intoxicated patients. See table.
No conflict of interest.