Assessment of Children Exposed to Maras Powder Intoxication

A smokeless tobacco known as Maras powder (MP) is commonly consumed in the southern region of Turkey. To the extent of our knowledge, no previous study in literature has reported acute MP intoxication in children.

Our aim was to determine the clinical effects and treatment strategies of MP poisoning in children.Materials and methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of children <18 years of age with MP intoxication who were followed up in the Intensive Care Unit between January 2016 and April 2018 in our center.

Forty-one patients (M/F= 25/16) were included in this study. The mean age was 13.2±22.4 months (age range: 7 to 30 months). The patients presented with vomiting (n=23, 56%), cough (n=17, 41.5%), loss of consciousness (n=11, 26.8%), respiratory distress (n=6, 14.6%), convulsion (n=7, 17%), cyanosis (n=1, 2.4%), and abdominal pain (n=1, 2.4%) following oral ingestion of the substance. On their physical examination all patients with convulsion were in a comatose state. Thirty-two patients (78%) had tachycardia; 15 patients (36.5%) had pharyngeal hyperemia; and three (7.3%) had hiccups. Although the female patients had a lesser rate of symptoms than male patients, the difference was not statistically significant.

Our aim was to inform the doctors about the clinical picture that develops after taking this substance and contribute to the understanding of the treatment approach.