OBJECTIVETo investigate the clinical features of acute poisoning in hospitalized children.

METHODSA retrospective analysis was performed on the clinical data of 586 hospitalized children who were diagnosed with poisoning and discharged from the Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University between January 2006 and December 2015.

RESULTSThe patients included 354 males and 232 females (age: 24 days to 15.8 years). Of the 586 cases, 450 (76.8%) were infants and preschool children; 463 (79.0%) came from rural areas; 551 (94.0%) were hospitalized because of unintentional poisoning. The drug poisoning, pesticide poisoning, and rodenticide poisoning accounted for 221 cases (37.7%), 167 cases (28.5%), and 175 cases (29.9%) respectively. There was a significant difference in the distribution of the poisoning toxins between urban and rural children (P<0.01), and drugs and pesticides were the most common toxins for urban and rural children respectively. There were significant differences in main clinical manifestations between the children with drug poisoning, pesticide poisoning, and rodenticide poisoning (P<0.01), who presented with main clinical symptoms of the nervous system, digestive system, and circulatory system respectively. There was no significant difference in overall response rate between the children poisoned by different toxins.

CONCLUSIONSAcute poisoning is most common in infants and preschool children. The majority of the patients are from rural areas. The majority of acute poisoning is unintentional. Poisoning by drugs is the main type of acute poisoning. There is no significant difference in overall response rate between the children poisoned by different toxins, but their clinical manifestations are different.