TITLE:
A Retrospective Analysis of Intoxicated Patients Admitted to the Intensive Care Unit: A Single-Institution Assessment in the Post-Pandemic Period
AUTHORS:
Müge Arikan, Abdullah Yeşilkaya, Büşra Nur Taşdelen, İbrahim Özyiğit
KEYWORDS:
Intoxication, Intensive Care Unit, Suicidal, Mortality
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Biosciences and Medicines,
Vol.12 No.3,
March
19,
2024
ABSTRACT: Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of patients with acute intoxication admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Material and Methods: An observational retrospective study was conducted on intoxicated patients who admitted to ICU between January 2022 and January 2024. Data were collected from the patients medical records. The demographic characteristics, causes of intoxications, clinical parameters, the mean stay in the ICU, treatment modalities and prognosis were recorded. Results: A total of 2875 critically ill patients were admitted during the study period, and 109 (3.79%) of them were acute intoxications. Their mean of ages was 38.09 ± 12.29. The female-to-male ratio was 1.37/1. Drugs were found to be the primary cause (62.39%) of intoxications, and analgesics, antidepressants, and antibiotics were the most frequent agents. Suicidal attempts were present in 66 patients, most of them were female (62.13%) and between 17 - 24 years (40.91%). The other common causes of intoxications were carbon monoxide (CO) (22.02%), methyl/ethyl alcohol (8.26%) and mushroom (5.50%). The mean stay in the ICU was 2.69 ± 0.89 days. Mechanical ventilation was applied to 10 of our patients. Renal replacement therapy was required in 6 patients. Despite all treatments, 6 of our patients died, and we found the mortality rate to be 5.50%. Conclusion: Intoxications were more frequent in young female patients and drugs were the most common cause with suicidal intent. Unfortunately, CO poisoning continues to be a very important problem in our city. These findings provided significant information about the characteristics of intoxications in Karabuk.