Common childhood poisonings and their outcome in a tertiary care center in Delhi.

Clinical profile of children presenting with poisoning to the Pediatric emergency department of a tertiary care hospital in Delhi from 8.1.2009 to 8.10.09 was studied prospectively. Fifty two cases of accidental poisoning were reported during this period which formed 1.05 % of all pediatric admissions (5094 admissions). No case of homicidal poisoning was reported. There were 80.7 % children between 1-5 y of age with male preponderance. PICA was observed in 57.7 % children. Overall mortality was 7.7 % and 11.3 % children required pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). Kerosene oil poisoning remained the commonest accidental poisoning in this study. An interesting trend was concentrated HCL poisoning (now a common household product) as the second commonest poisoning (17.3 %). This was followed by poisoning with various drugs used by adults in the house.