Pediatric Poisonings Due to Chemical Substances and Related Factors

Pediatric poisoning is a serious issue worldwide and a common cause of children's morbidity and mortality.

This work aimed to study pediatric poisonings due to chemical substances and their related factors.

A seven-year retrospective cross-sectional study was performed on the poisoning of children equal to or less than 18 years of age who presented to the emergency ward in 2014. The analyzed data included demographics and socioeconomic features, mode and route of poisoning, causative poisonous substances, clinical presentation, and patients' outcomes. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS 20, considering 0.05 as a significant error when statistical tests were used.

Among poisoned children, boys were more in total, as well in all age groups except > 10 years. Age (X2 = 22.494, P = 0.013), intentionally (X2 = 32.176, P < 0.001) had a significant association with chemical substances. Among the demographic and socioeconomic features, none was associated with the type of chemical substances except age. Among the symptoms, all were associated with chemical poisoning substances except seizures. Of 114 with RDS, about 30.7% were poisoned by kerosene. Of 63 with low BP, 66.7%, 31.7%, and 1.6% were due to medicines, bites, and detergents, respectively, and from six children with high BP, all were due to toxins. Of 79 with low consciousness, 69.6% were due to medicines. Seventy children had fever, of which 55.7% were due to bites. Thirty-two had seizures that 46.9% and 18.8% were due to medicines and kerosene. Ninety-seven had vomiting and nausea, of which 32% and 30.9% were due to medicines and kerosene, respectively. Finally, 159 had low SPO2, of which 47.8%, 13.8%, and 20.1% were due to medicines, toxins, and kerosene, respectively.

It was concluded that in poisoned children, boys were more but girls in self-poisoning, especially at older ages. Girls were poisoned more by medicinal and kerosene substances, but boys by bites, toxins, and detergents. All the poisoning symptoms were observed in medicinal substances and bites. Poisoning by kerosene more occurred in the cold months, and detergents and bite poisoning were more frequent in summer. There is a need for further, longer prospective studies to lead to preventing measures.