Analysis of the pattern of acute poisoning in patients admitted to a governmental hospital in Palestine.

The objectives were to (i) analyse the pattern of poisoning and (ii) study gender distribution and management protocol of poisoning in patients diagnosed with acute poisoning. A retrospective analysis of cases diagnosed with acute poisoning and admitted to the emergency department of Al-Wattani governmental hospital during the year of 2008 was carried out. Data from patients' medical files were collected and then analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (spss; SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA), version 16. There were 674 cases diagnosed with acute poisoning in 2008 which accounted for 1.5% of the total admission to the hospital. The mean age of the cases was 21.8 ± 18.1 years. Approximately, 58% of poisoning cases occurred at home. Male to female ratio was 1.5:1. The maximum number of poisoning occurred during summer season. Poisoning cases were maximum in the age category >18 years. More than half (92%) of the cases were of unintentional type of poisoning. Unintentional poisoning was significantly more common among males (61.3%; p < 0.01), while intentional was more common among females (64.8%; p < 0.001). The causative agents encountered were mainly biological agents (77.4%), pharmaceuticals (11.6%), and other chemicals (10.9%). The most common route of poisoning was through stings (72.3%), followed by oral ingestion (23.5%) and inhalation (3.4%). The majority (91.1%) of cases did not undergo any decontamination methods. Of those who had decontamination procedure, gastric lavage was the most commonly used. This is the first study in Palestine that presents data on the pattern of acute poisoning. Awareness campaigns should be held about potentially toxic materials in the region, and methods of poison prevention should be spread among the public.