Epidemiology of paediatric poisoning presenting to a children’s emergency department in Singapore over a five-year period

INTRODUCTION Paediatric poisoning accounts for 1% of daily emergency department presentations. The aim of this study was to review the characteristics and outcomes of paediatric patients who presented with drug overdose over a five-year period. METHODS We performed a retrospective review of paediatric poisoning cases at KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH), the largest children's public hospital in Singapore, from 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2013. RESULTS A total of 1,208 cases of poisoning were seen in KKH's Department of Children's Emergency during the study period. The gender distribution was about equal, with a slight male predominance. The majority of the poisoning cases were accidental. Slightly more than half of the intentional ingestions were of paracetamol and the majority were female patients belonging to the 12-16 year age group. The bulk of poisonings occurred in children aged 1-4 via the oral route, slightly more than half of the oral ingestions consisted of oral medications and a sizeable portion were of household liquids. Mothballs and silica gels accounted for almost a quarter of the solid household products ingested. Slightly less than half of the patients required admission and only a small portion of the admitted patients required intensive or high dependency care. CONCLUSION The prognosis of paediatric patients who presented with poisoning in our study was good, with a short median length of stay for those admitted and no fatalities being reported across the span of five years.