ABSTRACT
Drug intoxication is a major medical and health problem in developed as well as in developing countries. In the course of time, the rate incidence of drug intoxication has increased. Subjective evaluation of clinical status by individual clinicians may differ in terminology, and even in management of the severity of illness. Hence, various descriptive and prognostic evaluation scales [scoring systems] have been developed during the last three decades. The objective of the present study was the assessment of the severity of acute poisoning using Poison Severity Score [PSS] and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II Score [APACHEII]. The study was carried out on 435 patients suffering from acute intoxication and admitted to the Poison Unit at the Main University Hospital. The results showed that most of the patients were in the age group of 15-30 years and that organophosphorus pesticides were the most common type of poison encountered. Accidental poisoning represented the largest mode of poisoning where most of the patients [80.5%] suffered from typical symptoms and signs. Patients follow-up revealed complete recovery in 30.1% of cases, clinical improvement in 64.4% of cases and two deaths. PSS was applied to all cases where a remarkable improvement was seen in most cases of the three PSS categories [mild. moderate, and severe] with no significant relation between PSS and patients outcome. On the other hand, applying APACHEII score to all cases showed a significant relationship between APACHEII score and both duration of stay in hospital and patients outcome. In addition, the present study showed that APACHEII was a good indicator for mortality