title: Admission to a pediatric intensive care unit for poisoning: a review of 105 cases.
abstract: We reviewed all patients treated for intoxication in the pediatric ICU (PICU) of the Sainte-Justine Hospital over a 3-yr period. Poisoning (105 patients) constituted 3.1% of PICU admissions. Most involved children less than 3 (42%) yr or greater than 12 (33%) yr. Products most commonly ingested included tricyclic antidepressants (22%), benzodiazepines (15%), theophylline (10%), ethanol (10%), hallucinogens (8%), salicylates (8%), narcotics (8%), antihistamines (7%), and carbamazepine (5%). Three children became comatose after ingesting about 1 g of hashish. Multiple drug ingestions were frequent (22%), particularly in suicide attempts (11/23). Treatment was, in general, interventionist and nonspecific; aggressive measures for poisoning were required in only two patients who were hemodialyzed. Two patients stayed in the PICU greater than 2 days. All patients survived with no sequelae, except for one patient who required an intestinal resection. Poisoning in children is a common occurrence leading to PICU admission; however, the medical prognosis is usually excellent.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology Division, Hôpital Sainte-Justine, Université de Montréal, PQ, Canada.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lacroix
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gaudreault
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gauthier
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003422:Critical Care; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D015278:Intensive Care Units, Pediatric; D008499:Medical Records; D011041:Poisoning / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy; D011379:Prognosis; D011792:Quebec; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013406:Suicide, Attempted