Purpose@#Pediatric
drug poisoning is a frequent reason for
emergency department (ED) visits. Considering the increasing number of
mental illnesses in
adolescents, it has become a serious
public health problem. We aimed to investigate the
drug poisoning in the ED. @*
Methods@#We retrospectively analyzed
children aged 1-17 years with diagnostic
codes related to
drug poisoning who visited the ED from January 1, 2010 through October 7, 2022. Exclusion criteria were non-
pharmaceutical poisoning, insufficient data, and
poisoning via respiratory, dermal or ocular route. Baseline characteristics, clinical manifestations, and outcomes of
drug poisoning were analyzed in the study
population, according to
intention of
poisoning and
drug category. @*Results@#A total of 197 cases of 161
children were analyzed. Compared with non-intentional
poisoning, intentional
poisoning was associated a higher age, a longer
time from
ingestion to visit, and higher proportions of
girls,
antipyretics/
analgesics or
psychotropic drugs, symptoms related to the gastrointestinal, neurologic or cardiopulmonary systems (P = 0.034), psychiatric
comorbidity, multiple
drug ingestion,
suicide attempt,
decontamination (P = 0.017), the use of
antidote,
history of
drug poisoning, and
hospitalization (P = 0.004; all other Ps < 0.001).
Acetaminophen, a representative of
antipyretics/
analgesics, was associated with a longer
time from
ingestion to visit and higher proportions of
girls (P = 0.004), the presence of initial gastrointestinal symptoms,
suicide attempt (P = 0.001), the use of
antidote, and
hospitalization (all other Ps < 0.001).
Psychotropic drug was associated with higher proportions of psychiatric
comorbidity (P < 0.001) and multiple
drug ingestion (P = 0.012). @*Conclusion@#This study
will enable
pediatricians or
emergency physicians to obtain an overview of the management of
drug poisoning in EDs.