Commonest types of poisoning and factors leading to their ingestion in children presenting in tertiary care hospital

Objective: To determine the commonest types of poisoning and factors leading to their ingestion in children. Study Design: Cross-sectional study Place and Duration of Study: This study was done at the Pediatric medical ward of the Children’s Hospital and Institute of Child Health, Lahore from March 2016 to August 2017. Material and Methods: All patients younger than 16 years with acute poisoning were included in the study. Patients having food poisoning and idiosyncratic reaction to drugs were excluded. After taking parental consent, the information was recorded on predesigned proforma. Final outcome of patients recorded as survival or expired. The data collected was analyzed by SPSS-19. Results: Out of 110 patients, 65(59%) were males and 35(41%) females. Majority 65 (73.6 %) were between 1-5 years. Amongst commonest poisons were caustic ingestions 41 (37.3 %) followed by kerosene oil 29 (26.36 %), organophosphorus compounds 14 (12.7 %) and opioid poisoning 11 (10%). Most common type of storage bottles used were beverage bottles. Conclusion: In this study the commonest type of poisonings were caustic agents, kerosene oil and hydrocarbons and the identifiable factors were male sex, young age and beverage bottle storage.