Poisoning in Saudi Arabia: ten-year experience in King Khaled University Hospital.

The Pharmacy Services Department of King Khalid University Hospital (KKUH) established a poison control service in conjunction with their drug information center in October 1983. The primary goal of the poison information service was to offer expert advice from well-trained clinical pharmacists in the management of poisoning cases throughout the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The service was made available 24 hours a day (calls received from 7:30 am to 4:00 pm were managed by the Drug and Poison Information Center [DPIC], while after-hours consultations were managed by on-call clinical pharmacists). Information on poisoning management was targeted towards physicians, even though advice was also available to other paramedical personnel and the lay public. A retrospective study of poisoning cases received between October 1986 and October 1996 was undertaken to ascertain the fulfilment of initial goals, determine areas of weakness, and identify any trends in the poisoning cases received at our center. This was critical to help improve the service and increase physician and pharmacist awareness of poisoning trends. We believe that this is the first practical study to evaluate the pattern of poisoning in the country based on factual data. It was not possible to assess the quality of the services extensively or its impact on outcome, since follow-up information was not available. Patients were admitted for a short period of time, especially those from rural areas. Treating physicians were not available for comments on the follow-up of the patients. Moreover, once the patients move from the Accident and Emergency Department, it becomes difficult to track them. The only exceptions were the critical cases that we were able to follow until either complete recovery or demise.