Unintentional poisoning by cough and cold medications: Drugs with little usefulness and potential toxicity.

Autor:	Colom Gordillo A; Área de Urgencias, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain., Martínez Sánchez L; Área de Urgencias, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain; Influencia del entorno en el bienestar del niño y del adolescente, Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, Esplugues de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: lmartinez@hsjdbcn.org., Pretel Echaburu C; Área de Urgencias, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain., Trenchs Sainz de la Maza V; Área de Urgencias, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain; Influencia del entorno en el bienestar del niño y del adolescente, Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, Esplugues de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain; Departamento de Cirugía y Especialidades Médico-quirúrgicas, Facultad de Medicina i Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain., Gotzens Bersch J; Área de Urgencias, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain., Luaces Cubells C; Área de Urgencias, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain; Influencia del entorno en el bienestar del niño y del adolescente, Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, Esplugues de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain; Departamento de Cirugía y Especialidades Médico-quirúrgicas, Facultad de Medicina i Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
Jazyk:	angličtina
Zdroj:	Anales de pediatria [An Pediatr (Engl Ed)] 2022 Nov; Vol. 97 (5), pp. 326-332. Date of Electronic Publication: 2022 Sep 22.
DOI:	10.1016/j.anpede.2022.09.005
Abstrakt:	Introduction: The use of medications to relieve the symptoms of the "common cold" in children is very frequent. In addition to the lack of scientific evidence supporting its usefulness, there is evidence of potential toxicity, and serious and even fatal cases of intoxication have been described. The objective was to describe the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of the patients treated in a paediatric emergency department (PED) for suspected unintentional intoxication by a cold medicine. Material and Methods: Observational and analytical study of patients aged less than 18 years managed in a PED for suspected unintentional poisoning by a cold medicine between July 2012 and June 2020. We classified severity according to the Poisoning Severity Score (PSS): PSS-0 = no toxicity; PSS-1 = mild toxicity; PSS-2 = moderate; PSS-3 = severe; PSS-4 = lethal. If the intoxication occurred while the patient was in active treatment with the drug, we determined whether the patient's age was in the applicable range established in the therapeutic indications provided in the summary of product characteristics. Results: The study included data for 63 cases. The drugs involved were decongestants and mucolytics (31; 49.2%), antitussives (26; 41.2%) and oral bronchodilators (6; 9.5%). The distribution by severity was 40 cases with PSS-0 (63.5%), 21 with PSS-1 (33.3%), 1 with PSS-2 (1.6%) and 1 with PSS-3 (1.6%). In 29 patients (46.0%) there was a history of therapeutic use; in 15 of these cases (51.7%) the age was lower than recommended in the summary of product characteristics. In 14 patients (22.2%) the intoxication was due to administration of the wrong dose by caregivers. Conclusion: Although scientific evidence does not support the use of cold medicines in children, unintentional intoxications by these drugs keep happening, in some cases causing moderate or severe symptoms. (Copyright © 2022 Asociación Española de Pediatría. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)
Databáze:	MEDLINE
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