Clinical and epidemiological features of acute corrosive poisonings.

BACKGROUND the ingestion of chemical agents, of caustic nature, represents a serious problem for clinical toxicology. If the ingestion doesn't cause death during the acute period, it will most often cause severe side effects in the upper gastrointestinal tract during the chronic phase. AIMS The purpose of this study is to show the clinical, epidemiological and socio-economical characteristics seen in acute corrosive poisonings such as ingested caustic agents, causes for abuse and most consequential complications. MATERIAL AND METHODS a ten year medical data was constructed and collected (2000-2009) from patients with acute corrosive poisonings who were hospitalized and treated in the University Clinic of toxicology and urgent internal medicine in Skopje, Republic of Macedonia. The variables included were: age, sex, type of poisonings and percentage of late post-corrosive complications. RESULTS In the study, 735 patients files were analyzed, collected in a period often years. The mean age of patients is 32.9 +/- 15.6 years. Majority of patients ingested hydrochloric acid (HCl; n = 354; 48,16%). CONCLUSION Demographic, diagnostic and therapeutic findings in acute corrosive poisonings are found to be similar to the findings observed in the referenced literature. Conclusively, women between 14 and 30 years old represent a high risk group; hydrochloric acid is the most often abused agent; and high percentage of post-corrosive complications are