Causes of poisoning in children during the period 1990-1993

We retrospectively analysed the files from our Centre concerning intoxication in children younger than 14 years. About 96% of intoxication were accidental, 43% of patients were poisoned with drugs, 22% with house-hold products and 15% with pesticides. Almost 25% of drug poisonings were due to sedative and to psychotropic drugs, the 20% to drug mixtures. The frequency of mushrooms and plants poisonings were low-7%. In Poland there are no acute poisoning departments which treat children, and thus these patients are treated in paediatric wards and paediatric hospitals, so complete data on the poisonings in children from over the whole territory of Poland are not available (due to the great number of paediatric wards in Poland and to the lack of a computer network, collection of such complete data is practically impossible). However, we believe that the frequency of causes of children's intoxication in our country is properly mirrored in our material. This allows conclusions to be drawn the prophylaxis of poisoning in this age group.