Systematic review and single-centre toxicology study identified analgesics and benzodiazepines as the main causes of paediatric medication poisoning.

ABSTRACT

AIM: This study evaluated medication poisoning in paediatric patients through a systematic review and a retrospective documentary analysis in a Brazilian toxicological centre. METHODS: The data were systematically collected on PubMed, Scopus and SciELO databases following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis guidelines. We included epidemiologic and prevalence studies that were published in English or Portuguese from 2013 to 2017 and covered paediatric patients. The retrospective incidence study was carried out in a Brazilian toxicological centre and was a documentary analysis of paediatric medication poisoning cases from 2005 to 2015. RESULTS: The systematic review comprised 13 papers covering 895 206 poisoning cases from six different countries. The main agents of intoxication were analgesics and antihistamines. The eight papers that explored the reasons for the poisonings showed that 93% of those 762 863 cases were accidental. The Brazilian toxicological centre recorded 443 paediatric patients poisoned by medication such as benzodiazepines, analgesics and antibiotics and found that 63.2% were accidental. However, it agreed with the global findings in many other aspects. CONCLUSION: The systematic review showed a sustained number of paediatric medication toxicity cases worldwide and the key findings were broadly reflected by the retrospective study carried out in the Brazilian toxicological centre.