Influence of age on the survival and mortality rate in acute caustic poisonings

Acute poisonings with caustic substances can cause severe chemical injuries to the upper gastrointestinal tract, which can be localized from the mouth to the small intestines. They are seen very often among young people in their most productive years. The aim of this study is to examine the influence of patient's age on the mortality rate and survival of patients with acute caustic poisonings, and also to analyze their correlation.

We studied medical records from 415 patients, aged between 14 and 90 years, who were hospitalized and treated at the University Clinic for toxicology and urgent internal medicine, Skopje, Republic of Macedonia, in the period between 2007 and 2011.

In the survey we included 415 patients with acute corrosive poisonings, from which 295 (71.08%) were females and 120 (28. 92%) were males. 388 (93.49%) from the total number of patients ingested the corrosive agent with suicidal attempt and 27 (6.5%) ingested it accidentally.

Unregulated production, import, packing and labeling of various caustic agents, due to inappropriate legislative, made them one of the most often abused substances in everyday life, especially in developing countries where the number of caustic poisonings rises.