Evaluation of Intoxication Cases Followed up in Pediatric Intensive Care Unit During COVID-19 Pandemic with Social Restrictions

Abstract

Introduction: Intoxication's are the preventable cause of mortality and morbidity. While most pediatric cases are asymptomatic at presentation, some patients might present with life-threatening symptoms. Patients with life-threatening symptoms need close follow-up in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). In this study we aim to retrospectively evaluate the demographic, epidemiologic, clinical features, and prognosis of the patients that are followed up in PICU when the social restrictions were on and to investigate the effect of these restrictions on patients with intoxication. Materials and Methods: Patients that are followed up with intoxication between August 2020 and December 2021 when the social restrictions were on due to COVID-19 in Istanbul University of Health Sciences Turkey, Sancaktepe Sehit Prof. Ilhan Varank Training and Research Hospital PICU were included. Results: There were 50 patients with the diagnosis of intoxication that were followed up in our PICU between August 2020 - December 2021. Thirty-two of them (64%) were female and 18 of them were male (36%), and the median age was 14.9 (0.25-17.8) years. Four (8%) of our patients needed invasive mechanical ventilation support, while 5 (10%) of them needed noninvasive mechanical ventilator support. Therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) was applied to 6 patients and charcoal hemoperfusion (CH) therapy was applied to 8 (16%) patients with various drug intoxication symptoms. Conclusion: Life-threatening pediatric intoxication cases may be encountered. Extracorporeal therapies such as TPE and CH may be lifesaving in chosen cases. In our opinion, our study will contribute to the literature regarding the use of extracorporeal therapies without any mortal complications.