Acute intoxications: Differences in management between six Dutch hospitals

Context. Acute intoxications are frequently seen in Dutch hospitals. Based on single-centre studies and the fact that there are no clear guidelines, we hypothesised that hospital admission of acute intoxications may vary. Furthermore, decontamination treatment of poisonings may differ between hospitals, as earlier studies showed that adherence to international guidelines concerning decontamination may be poor. Objective. We aim to identify possible variations in Dutch hospital admission and decontamination treatment of patients with acute intoxications. Materials and methods. Data on acute intoxications was retrospectively collected from patient records from the emergency departments of six Dutch hospitals. All patients older than 14 years who presented between 1 January 2008 and 31 December 2008 were included in the study. Results. The percentage of suicide attempts differed signifi cantly between the hospitals (25 – 73%, p 0.0001) as equally the percentage of intoxications with drugs of abuse (18 – 61%, p 0.0001). Marked differences in admission rates were found (27 – 78%, p 0.0001) and these differences remained even when intoxications because of suicide attempts and drugs of abuse were analysed separately (admission rate of 52 – 87%, p 0.0001 and 8 – 71%, p 0.0001 respectively). Reported consultation with the National Poisons Information Centre differed between hospitals (range 0 % to 80 – 100%). No statistical differences were found between hospitals for the use of activated charcoal (16.1 – 42.5%, p = 0.037). Gastric lavage was used infrequently in all hospitals. (6.6 – 16.7%, p = 0.614). Discussion an