Dynamics of acute poisoning with narcotic and psychotropic drugs in children

Introduction. Acute poisoning of chemical aetiology in children and adolescents is a significant medical and social problem. The average overall assessment of the state of the drug situation in St. Petersburg by all criteria is: in 2018 — 3.6 (pre-crisis condition), in 2019 — 3.5 (pre-crisis), in 2020 — 3.3 (severe).

The aim of this work is to analyze the structure of acute poisoning with narcotic and psychodysleptic drugs in children of St. Petersburg.

Materials and methods. An analysis was carried out of 4256 cases of acute chemical poisoning in children (form No. 64) admitted to the acute poisoning department of N.F. Filatov St. Petersburg State Children Hospital from 2016 to 2018.

Results. The total number of chemical aetiology poisonings was 1441 cases in 2016, 1,527 in 2017 and 1,288 in 2018. Poisoning with narcotic and psychodysleptic drugs was (of the total number of poisonings) in 2016 — 3.1%, in 2017 — 5.8% and 2018 — 4.9%. The top place among poisonings with toxic substances of this group are opiates, methadone, LSD, hashish. The maximum poisoning with psychotropic drugs is psychostimulants such as methamphetamine — 2.6%, amphetamine — 1.4%, еcstasy — 1.2%. There was a significant increase in acute poisoning with unspecified psychotropic drugs from 0.7% (2016) to 4.6% (2018).

Conclusions. The obtained results of the study revealed a decrease in the total number of acute chemical poisoning by 18.9%. On the background of a reduction in the total number of poisonings, there is an increase in the frequency of poisoning with neurodestructive substances (methadone, hashish, LSD, benzodiazepine, amphetamine, methamphetamine and ecstasy). The most frequent cause of acute chemical intoxication in children is poisoning with psychotropic drugs.

Contribution:
Kutsenko V.P., Kovaleva D.D. — the concept and design of the research;
Kovaleva D.D., Rumyantseva T.O. — collection and processing of material, writing the text;
Kutsenko V.P., Mironova N.R. — editing.
All authors are responsible for the integrity of all parts of the manuscript and approval of the manuscript final version.

Acknowledgment. The study had no sponsorship.

Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Received: October 08, 2021
Accepted: October 28, 2021
Published: November 15, 2021

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