Evaluation of forensic cases admitted to the pediatric emergency department

Abstract

Aim: Pediatric forensic cases have an important share in pediatric emergency service admissions. These require immediate treatment as they can lead to pediatric morbidity and mortality. In this study, a retrospective analysis of pediatric patients admitted to the emergency department due to acute forensic events was performed, and it was aimed to contribute to the data collected in Turkey by evaluating the results along with the results of other studies.Material and Method: All pediatric forensic cases admitted to the Pediatric Emergency Service of the Gülhane Training and Research Hospital between November 2016 and January 2018 were retrospectively analyzed. The demographic characteristics, forensic events, intoxication agents, hospitalization statuses and clinical follow-ups of the cases were recorded.Results: Among the 819 pediatric forensic cases admitted to the Pediatric Emergency Service, 393 (48%) were male, and 426 (52%) were female. The cases were aged between 0 and 18, with a mean age of 7.75±6.87 years. The majority of the patients were in the 0-2 age group (n=349, 42.6%). Case admissions were more frequent in winter months (n= 240; 29.3%), and most admissions were made in December (n=92; 11.2%). The days of the week with the highest frequencies of admissions were Wednesday (n=138, 16.8%) and Monday (n=134, 16.3%). The hours of the day with the highest frequencies of admissions were between 18:00 and 24:00 (n=309; 37.72%). Drug intoxication (47.13%) was found to be the most frequently encountered reason for the admission of the cases. While 69.47% (n=569) of the cases were treated as outpatients, 29.42% (n=241) were treated as inpatients, and the mortality rate in the sample was 0.6%.Conclusion: Most causes of pediatric forensic events are preventable. Therefore, a safe environment should be provided by taking effective protective measures, and strategies that include education in which families and children will actively participate should be developed.