Saad Ullah Siddiqui, Mohammad Iqbal, Farhana Zafar, Rabeaya Muzammil, Lubna Khan.
Spectrum of Accidental Poisoning in Children Presenting to Dr. Ziauddin Hospital Emergency Department.
Pak Paed J Jan ;46(1):37-41.

Objective: The objective of the study was to assess the pattern of accidental poisoning in children at Ziauddin Emergency. Study Design: Retrospective cohort study. Place and Duration of Study: This study was carried out in the Emergency Department of Ziauddin Hospital, Nazimabad. between March 1, 2020 and February 28, 2021. Material and Methods: After getting exemption from ethical review committee, retrospective review of medical records of all children who presented with accidental poisoning in emergency department from March 1, 2020 and February 28, 2021 was done. Demographic variables, etiological agents (type of poison) and time between ingestion and arrival at hospital in children were recorded. The data was obtained in predesign questionnaire. Results: There were a total 41 children presenting in the emergency department with the mean age of 5.18 +- 4.32 years. Most of the children were of 1-2 year of age. Kerosene oil (26.9%) was the leading cause of poisoning followed by pharmaceutical products (24.4%), rat poison (17.1%), Dettol liquid (4.9%) and all the remaining toxic substances constitute 2.4 %. Conclusion: Kerosene oil continues to be the most common found toxic substance in children followed by pharmaceutical drugs. Further studies are needed to identify risk factors of poisoning in children. Use of safety containers for household cleaners/chemicals and child-resistant packaging of pharmaceutical products indeed is a need of time along with government initiated educational programs for guardians for better prevention.

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