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HOME > J Korean Soc Clin Toxicol > Volume 8(2); 2010 > Article
2008 Database of Korean Toxic Exposures: A Preliminary Study
Byung-Hak So, Mi-Jin Lee, Hyun Kim, Jeong-Mi Moon, Kyung-Hye Park, Ae-Jin Sung, Seok-Ran Yeom, Seong-Beom Oh, Ji-Young You, Kyung-Woo Lee, Kyung-Won Lee
Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology 2010;8(2):51-60
DOI: https://doi.org/
Published online: December 31, 2010
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1Department of Emergency Medicine, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea
10Department of Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine, Gyeongsang National University
11Department of Emergency Medicine, College of Medicine, Catholic University of Daegu
2Department of Emergency Medicine, College of Medicine, Konyang University
3Department of Emergency Medicine, Wonju College of Medicine, Yonsei University
4Department of Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine Chonnam National University
5Department of Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine, Jeju National University
6Department of Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine, Sungkyunkwan University
7Department of Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine, Pusan National University
8Department of Emergency Medicine, College of Medicine, Dankook University
9Department of Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine, Hallym University

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate toxic exposures in emergency centers with using a toxic exposure surveillance system-based report form as a preliminary study. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of toxic exposure patients who visited emergency centers from January to December 2008. Results: 3,157 patients from 11 emergency centers were enrolled. Males were involved in 47.9% of the total cases of exposure and in 60.1% of the cases of fatal exposure. Suicidal intent was the most common (61.0%) reason and most (87.4%) fatal exposures were suicidal. Pesticides were involved in 30.7% of the cases and sedative/hypnotics/antipsychotics were involved in 20.5%. The substances most frequently involved in fatalities were pesticides, and a 48.4% fatality rate was recorded for paraquat exposure. Conclusion: The toxic exposure data showed the preliminary poisoning events in emergency centers. It is recommended that toxicology professionals should develop a toxic surveillance system and serial reporting should be performed.

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JKSCT : Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology