analysıs of patıents admıtted to the emergency department wıth acute adult drug poısonıng ın bursa
Celaleddin DEMİRCAN*,^o, Ferda KAHVECİ**, Zülfi ENGİNDENİZ***, Ayşe GÖZKAMAN*, Şule Akköse AYDIN***, Deniz SIĞIRLI****, Nermin Kelebek GİRGİN**, Atınç ÇOLTU*****, Gürayten ÖZYURT**
* Uludag University, Medical Faculty Hospital, Department of Internal Medicine, Emergency Internal Medicine Unit, Bursa, Turkey
** Uludag University, Medical Faculty Hospital, Department of Anaesthesiology and Reanimation, Bursa, Turkey

*** Uludag University, Medical Faculty Hospital, Department of Emergency Medicine , Bursa, Turkey

**** Uludag University, Medical Faculty Hospital, Department of Biostatics, Bursa, Turkey

***** Uludag University, Medical Faculty Hospital, Department of Forensic Medicine, Bursa, Turkey

^oCorresponding Author

Summary

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 Uludağ 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±11.9 [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.

Key Words :
Poisoning, drug, emergency department.