Acute poisoning in children in Chengdu, China: a retrospective study (2019–2022)

To analyze the characteristics of children with acute poisoning admitted to emergency departments in the southwestern region of China.

Data were retrospectively collected from the hospital information system in Chengdu, West China Second Hospital from January 2019 to December 2022 and the frequency and substance of pediatric poisoning, clinical management and outcome were described in this study.

A total of 2036 cases with acute poisoning aged from 0–14 years were included, of these, 272 were hospitalized, with 40 admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit. The incidence was slightly higher in boys than girls (51.2% vs. 48.8%). The most common route of poisoning was the digestive system (99.3%), and the majority were accidental poisonings (92.7%). Medications were the most common toxic substances (62.1%), followed by pesticides (12.4%) and household cleaners (8.8%). The proportion of toxic substances varied among different age groups, with household cleaners being the most common in infants, and pesticides in other age groups, excluding medications.

Children in early childhood accounted for most acute poisoning cases, mostly due to unintentional ingestion of a single substance. Female adolescents were the most common patients intentionally ingested toxic substances, mainly psychotropic drugs.