ABSTRACT

Objective:

In this study, it was aimed to retrospectively evaluate the demographic and etiological characteristics, duration of intensive care stay and prognosis of intoxication cases followed up in intensive care unit over a period of 70 months.

Materials and Methods:

Between January 2011 and October 2016, epidemiology of intoxication cases, who stayed and followed up in Afyon Karahisar University Medical Faculty Hospital Anesthesiology and Reanimation Intensive Care Unit were retrospectively evaluated. Patients were evaluated for age, gender, intoxication effect, cause of intoxication, duration of stay in intensive care unit, need for mechanical ventilation, seasonal variation of intoxication and mortality rates.

Results:

In the study 122 cases of intoxication were included. Of the patients 81.1% applied with drug or toxic substance intake for attempted suicide. Women made of 65.6% of our patients. The average age of the patients was calculated as 33.12±15.61. When drugs and toxic compounds they took were evaluated, analgesics took the first order, antidepressants took the second order and organophosphates from toxic compounds took the third order. In terms of seasons, the admissions were mostly during spring and winter. The average duration of stay in our intensive care unit was 4.9 days. Mortality rate was determined as 4.9%.

Conclusion:

It was determined that most of the intoxication cases that we follow in our intensive care unit were composed of women and young people. Easily accessible analgesics and antidepressants were used for suicidal purposes and accidents were resulted in the most exposure to organophosphates. We think that public awareness of the use of agricultural drugs and the clarity of their labels and the absence of food in the same environment will significantly reduce the risk of intoxication.