Analysis of patients admitted to the Emergency Department with acute adult drug poisoning in Bursa, Turkey

Abstract

Introduction: The aim of this study was to gather data (age/sex, toxic substance types, suicide intent or accidental, mortality rates) of adult patients admitted with the complaint of acute drug poisoning to the Emergency Department (ED) of Uludaǧ University Medical Faculty Hospital in Bursa, Turkey. Materials and Methods: Medical records of all adult patients with the complaint of acute drug poisonings admitted to our ED within the one-year period between June 1, 2002 and May 31, 2003 were reviewed retrospectively. Data were compared to results of similar studies from Turkey and from other countries. Results: Of the 21934 patients admitted to our ED within the study period, 430 (1.96%) had acute poisoning and 204 (0.93%) had acute drug poisonings. Of these patients, 147 (72.1%) were female and 57 (27.9%) were male; their mean age was 25.1±9.4 (24.4±8.1 [F] and 27.0±U.9 [M]) and median age was 22.37.7% of the patients were admitted, 27.0% were transferred to other hospitals, 35.3% were discharged from the ED, and none of the patients died. 98.5% of the poisonings were suicide attempts and among these patients, the female to male ratio was 2.7; the most commonly taken drugs were antidepressants and analgesics. Conclusion: The results of our study were similar to previous studies from our country, since acute drug poisonings were more common in women at younger ages, the majority were suicidal and the prognosis was good. In comparison with a previous study conducted in our unit, suicidal poisoning with antidepressants showed an increasing trend.