Pediatric Toxicoepidemiology of Tramadol Intoxication in Iran: A 5‑year Cross‑Sectional Study

We aimed to find the toxicoepidemiological indicators of tramadol poisoning in children and also the relationship of these indicators (such as demographic characteristics, and referral time) with the final therapeutic outcome.

In this cross‑sectional study with retrospective data collection, we included the records for all the patients under 18 that have been admitted due to tramadol poisoning between 2010 and 2015 to Noor and Ali‑Asghar (PBUH) University hospital which serves as the referral medical center for acute poisonings management in the central part of Iran and is located in Isfahan. Demographic characteristics, ingested dose, dosage forms, clinical manifestations, coingested drugs, and the outcome of treatment for all pediatric patients were documented and descriptively analyzed.

Demographic and clinical data of a total of 189 patients including 101 male (53.4%) with a mean age of 16.66 ± 2.64 years were abstracted and included in this study. The average time between tramadol ingestion and hospital admission was 3.39 ± 3.23 h. Mean duration of hospitalization was 12.3 ± 10.7 h. In all cases, the route of drug exposure was oral, and the most common form of drug dosage form was 100 mg tablets (n = 122) proceeded by 200 mg tablets (n = 32). The mean estimated dose of ingested tramadol was 1126 ± 1061 mg (median, 900 range, 50–7000 mg). 43.9% of the poisoned patients were high school students, and 23.3% had a high school diploma. Intentional intoxications were reported in 93.1% cases and 42.9% had coingestions. Activated charcoal (87.3%), gastric lavage (59.3%), oxygen therapy with mask (46.6%), naloxone (11.6%), anticonvulsants (13.2%), and intubation and ventilation (5.3%) were done as first‑line therapeutic measures.

Our results suggest that the trend of acute tramadol poisoning among children is decreasing, mostly accidental in adolescents and commonly intentional among young children. Proper education to improve emotional intelligence for young adults and to keep drugs out of reach of the children and safer packaging is recommended to reduce tramadol poisoning incidence in the pediatric population.