Evaluation of Patients Presenting to the Emergency Department with Suicidal Drug Poisoning

Abstract

Introduction: Drug intoxications may be associated with accidental or suicidal ingestion of toxic agents. In both cases, emergency treatment includes administration of the relevant antidote and gastric decontamination. If necessary, patients are followed up in wards and intensive care units, whereas a group of patients are discharged directly from the emergency department. Materials and Methods: The aim of this study was to conduct a retrospective evaluation of examination findings, laboratory investigations, duration of treatments, psychiatric follow-up studies, hospitalization rates and mortality rates in patients admitted to our emergency department due to drug intoxication between 2017 and 2018. Results: Of the 126 patients included in our study, 83 were female, with a mean age of 33.58 ± 13.58 years and a range of 18 to 92 years. Of all patients, 76 were hospitalized in the ward and 1 in the intensive care unit, while 49 were treated in the emergency department. One patient had mortality on the eighth day of hospitalization. Eighty-six patients had been on psychiatric treatment prior to admission, whereas 82 patients were referred to the psychiatry department after admission. The rate of psychiatric consultation was significantly higher in patients who were hospitalized in any department due to drug intoxication than in patients who were discharged directly from the emergency department (p <0.001). Conclusion: Drug intoxications continue to be a growing problem for physicians working in emergency departments in Turkey as well as in the world. The incidence of drug intoxications was higher in patients who had previously applied to psychiatry outpatient clinics than those who had not. Our study highlighted the shortcomings of physicians in emergency departments in referring this patient group to the psychiatry department. There is a duty for health professionals in emergency departments to direct patients to receive adequate psychosocial support.