[Acute intoxications in the intensive care unit: A 10-year analysis]

Acute intoxications play a special role in preclinical emergency medicine, in the emergency department, and in intensive care. This study characterizes cases of acute intoxications from an intensive care perspective.

All cases of acute intoxications admitted to the intensive care units at the University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf between 01 January 2007 and 30 June 2017 were retrospectively analyzed.

During the study period, 587 patients with acute intoxications were admitted to the university hospital's intensive care units. Median age was 45 years (interquartile range [IQR] 31 years); 83.1% of patients were younger than 70 years. The most common cause of intoxication in the younger patients was a suicide attempt (55.1%), while in older patients it was an iatrogenic event (47.5%). Cases involving intoxications with psychotropic medication (48.7%), alcohol (32.9%), analgesics (23.3%), and drugs (17.0%) were most frequent. In 50.6% of cases, intoxication was due to more than one substance. Intoxication-specific therapy was performed in 40.0% of cases and intensive care therapy in 42.4% of cases. The median length of intensive care unit stay was 2 days (IQR 3). Hospital mortality was 5.5%. In older patients (≥ 70 years) compared with younger patients, the need for intensive care treatment (56.6% vs. 39.5% of cases, p = 0.002), the length of intensive care unit stay (3 days [IQR 5] vs. 2 days [IQR 3], p = 0.0004) and in-hospital mortality (17.2% vs. 3.1%, p < 0.001) were significantly higher.

Acute intoxications are part of the spectrum of disorders treated in the intensive care unit. In older patients, iatrogenic causes are frequently found, which is associated with an increased risk of death.