Objectives: Poisoning in children and adolescents–a common worldwide problem–is a preventable cause of morbidity and mortality. It has not been extensively studied in India. The aim of this study was to determe the profile and outcome of children presenting with acute poisoning at a North Indian tertiary care centre.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the hospital records of all children and adolescents aged less than 18 years with definite history of poisoning during the 3-years period from December 2008 to November 2011. We profiled all cases and noted their outcome.

Results: 117 patients presented with acute poisoning during the study period. Median age of our patients was 4 years (range 0.75-17.75). The majority of our patients (60.68%) were in the 1-6 year age group. Male to female ratio was 1.4: 1. The majority of our patients resided in rural areas. Insecticides (37.61%), drugs (25.64%), and Kerosene oil (18.8%) were the agents most frequently implicated. Almost all (97.2%) cases in 1-6 year age group were accidental in nature, whereas in the 12-18 year group, the majority (80.9%) were suicidal. Thirty-six patients (30.7%) remained asymptomatic, the rest developed symptoms related to toxic ingestion and required symptomatic or definitive treatment. Thirteen patients required ICU care and 7 required intubation and mechanical ventilation. Gastric lavage was done in 34% patients and specific antidote was given to 28 (23.9%) patients. Four patients (3 adolescents and 1 preschool child) died.

Conclusion: The profile of paediatric poisoning noted at our centre was not very different from that observed in other hospitalbased studies. Most of our patients were symptomatic and required hospitalisation because of the inherent toxicity of the substances implicated. This is in sharp contrast to developed countries, where common non-toxic household products are commonly implicated. Patient management is improved by consultation with national poison information centre.