Systematic review and single‐centre toxicology study identified analgesics and benzodiazepines as the main causes of paediatric medication poisoning
- Resource Type
- Authors
- Karyna Turra Osternack; Quelen Iane Garlet; Cláudia S. Oliveira; Rosiane Guetter Mello; Mary Anne P. Smarczewski
- Source
- Acta Paediatrica. 110:1056-1065
- Subject
- medicine.medical_specialty
Poison control
Occupational safety and health
Benzodiazepines
03 medical and health sciences
0302 clinical medicine
030225 pediatrics
Injury prevention
medicine
Humans
030212 general & internal medicine
Child
Incidence study
Retrospective Studies
Analgesics
business.industry
Incidence
Poisoning
Retrospective cohort study
General Medicine
Single centre
Systematic review
Accidental
Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health
Emergency medicine
business
Brazil
- Language
- ISSN
- 1651-2227
0803-5253
AIM This study evaluated medication poisoning in paediatric patients through a systematic review and a retrospective documentary analysis in a Brazilian toxicological centre. METHODS The data were systematically collected on PubMed, Scopus and SciELO databases following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis guidelines. We included epidemiologic and prevalence studies that were published in English or Portuguese from 2013 to 2017 and covered paediatric patients. The retrospective incidence study was carried out in a Brazilian toxicological centre and was a documentary analysis of paediatric medication poisoning cases from 2005 to 2015. RESULTS The systematic review comprised 13 papers covering 895 206 poisoning cases from six different countries. The main agents of intoxication were analgesics and antihistamines. The eight papers that explored the reasons for the poisonings showed that 93% of those 762 863 cases were accidental. The Brazilian toxicological centre recorded 443 paediatric patients poisoned by medication such as benzodiazepines, analgesics and antibiotics and found that 63.2% were accidental. However, it agreed with the global findings in many other aspects. CONCLUSION The systematic review showed a sustained number of paediatric medication toxicity cases worldwide and the key findings were broadly reflected by the retrospective study carried out in the Brazilian toxicological centre.