Profile of intoxications served at the 24-hour emergency service unit

Ana Carolina Arrebola Tredice Di Palma; Thaís Lorenna Souza Sales; Geisa Cristina Silva Alves; Sayonara Maria Lia Fook; Alba Otoni; Cristina Sanches; Farah Maria Drumond Chequer

Ana Carolina Arrebola Tredice Di Palma Universidade Federal de São João del-Rei (UFSJ), Divinópolis, MG, Brasil https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8871-351X
Thaís Lorenna Souza Sales Universidade Federal de São João del-Rei (UFSJ), Divinópolis, MG, Brasil https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1571-3850
Geisa Cristina Silva Alves Universidade Federal de São João del-Rei (UFSJ), Divinópolis, MG, Brasil / Universidade de Itaúna, Itaúna, MG, Brasil https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2023-8011
Sayonara Maria Lia Fook Universidade Estadual da Paraíba (UEPB), Departamento de Farmácia, Campina Grande, PB, Brasil https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1948-9371
Alba Otoni Universidade Federal de São João del-Rei (UFSJ), Divinópolis, MG, Brasil https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8126-3026
Cristina Sanches Universidade Federal de São João del-Rei (UFSJ), Divinópolis, MG, Brasil https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8562-1337
Farah Maria Drumond Chequer Universidade Federal de São João del-Rei (UFSJ), Divinópolis, MG, Brasil https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3514-2132

Keywords: Toxic substances. Suicide, attempted. Benzodiazepines. Gastric lavage.

Abstract

Intoxications represent a serious public health problem. According to the World Health Organization, 193,000 deaths per year are caused by unintended intoxications worldwide. This study aims to know the profile of intoxications at the 24-hour Emergency Service Unit in Divinópolis, in the state of Minas Gerais. This is a descriptive study in which the study population chosen were all patients treated for intoxications in the period from 2017 to 2018, registered in the health service; 421 cases of intoxications were recorded. The female gender was the most prevalent, and the age group with the most cases was 21 to 30 years. The main circumstance found was attempted suicide (83.1 %), and the main causative agent was medication (76.5 %), with benzodiazepines being the main class responsible for intoxications. The most used treatment was gastric lavage and activated charcoal. This study demonstrates that knowledge about the city's intoxication profile is important for the development of treatment and patient management methods to better suit the demands of the municipality.