{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,17]],"date-time":"2026-06-17T06:56:08Z","timestamp":1781679368567,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":46,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,17]],"date-time":"2026-06-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1781654400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Medical Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Acute drug poisoning is one of the leading causes of admission to pediatric emergency departments and represents a significant public health concern because of its potential severity and associated morbidity and mortality. This study aimed to describe the clinical, epidemiological, and severity characteristics of pediatric patients with acute drug poisoning treated at a tertiary care hospital in western Mexico. Methods: A retrospective, observational, descriptive study was conducted in the pediatric emergency department of Nuevo Hospital Civil de Guadalajara \u201cDr. Juan I. Menchaca\u201d from January 2016 to December 2024. Results: The mean age of the patients was 77.1 months, with a predominance of females (61.9%). Most poisoning events (97.1%) occurred in the home. Accidental poisoning was the most frequent mechanism (54.5%), followed by suicide attempts (24.4%) and drug overdoses (17.6%). Regarding medical care, 50% of patients arrived at the emergency department within the first four hours after exposure, and 55.1% had a hospital stay of less than 12 h. The most involved drug groups were anxiolytics, mainly benzodiazepines (21.6%), followed by polypharmacy (17.6%) and antiemetic use (13.6%). The most frequent toxidrome was hypnotic\u2013sedative syndrome (42.6% of cases). Multivariate analysis showed that exposure to anticonvulsants was significantly associated with a longer hospital stay (odds ratio [OR] = 7.31, p = 0.003). Most cases were classified as mild according to the Poisoning Severity Score, and no deaths were reported. Conclusions: Although pediatric drug poisoning generally has a favorable prognosis, it remains a significant public health issue. These findings highlight the need for targeted preventive strategies, including caregiver education, safe medication storage at home, and increased awareness and training programs for both families and healthcare professionals.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/medsci14020326","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,17]],"date-time":"2026-06-17T05:56:31Z","timestamp":1781675791000},"page":"326","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Severity of Acute Drug Poisonings Treated in the Pediatric Emergency Department of a Hospital in Western Mexico"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Ruth Yesica","family":"Ramos-Guti\u00e9rrez","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Pediatrics, \u201cDr. Juan I. Menchaca\u201d Civil Hospital of Guadalajara, Guadalajara 44340, Jalisco, Mexico"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3671-8834","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mireya","family":"Robledo-Aceves","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Pediatrics, \u201cDr. Juan I. Menchaca\u201d Civil Hospital of Guadalajara, Guadalajara 44340, Jalisco, Mexico"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5629-2864","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Santiago Jos\u00e9","family":"Guevara-Mart\u00ednez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmacobiology, University Center of Exact Sciences and Engineering, University of Guadalajara, Guadalajara 44430, Jalisco, Mexico"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9276-159X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nelson Bruno","family":"de Almeida-Cunha","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmacobiology, University Center of Exact Sciences and Engineering, University of Guadalajara, Guadalajara 44430, Jalisco, Mexico"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3072-0987","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Raymundo","family":"Escutia-Guti\u00e9rrez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmacobiology, University Center of Exact Sciences and Engineering, University of Guadalajara, Guadalajara 44430, Jalisco, Mexico"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3631-0281","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Martin","family":"Zerme\u00f1o-Ruiz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmacobiology, University Center of Exact Sciences and Engineering, University of Guadalajara, Guadalajara 44430, Jalisco, Mexico"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Karla Valeria","family":"D\u00edaz-Rivera","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"La Cienega University Center, University of Guadalajara, Ocotlan 47810, Jalisco, Mexico"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"\u00c1ngel Abad Del","family":"R\u00edo-Ch\u00e1vez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Bromatology Laboratory, Faculty of Agrobiology \u201cPresidente Ju\u00e1rez\u201d, Michoacan University of San Nicolas de Hidalgo, Uruapan 60170, Michoac\u00e1n, Mexico"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3763-7115","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"C\u00e9sar Ricardo","family":"Cortez-\u00c1lvarez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmacobiology, University Center of Exact Sciences and Engineering, University of Guadalajara, Guadalajara 44430, Jalisco, Mexico"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alfredo Fernando","family":"Cortez-Mart\u00ednez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmacobiology, University Center of Exact Sciences and Engineering, University of Guadalajara, Guadalajara 44430, Jalisco, Mexico"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Damian","family":"Fierros-Uribe","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmacobiology, University Center of Exact Sciences and Engineering, University of Guadalajara, Guadalajara 44430, Jalisco, Mexico"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0006-9348-1019","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"H\u00e9ctor Andr\u00e9s","family":"Gonz\u00e1lez-Ruiz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Coordination Unit, Jalisco Institute for Pain Relief and Palliative Care, Jalisco Ministry of Health, Zapopan 45150, Jalisco, Mexico"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rebeca","family":"Escutia-Guti\u00e9rrez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Molecular Biology and Genomics, University Center of Health Sciences, University of Guadalajara, Guadalajara 44340, Jalisco, Mexico"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,17]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"3551","article-title":"Comportamiento de las intoxicaciones agudas en la unidad de cuidados intensivos pedi\u00e1tricos de Cienfuegos","volume":"15","year":"2017","journal-title":"Medisur"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Vrki\u0107 Boban, I., and Saraga, M. 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