Background: There are few Spanish studies on acute poisoning in the elderly despite the associated risk factors of this group of patients.
Material and methods: Retrospective descriptive study of acute poisonings treated in the Emergency Service of the University Hospital of Zaragoza from 1995 to 2009 on patients 65 years old or older.
Results: A total of 762 patients were selected in the study (4.74% of all acute poisonings) with a mean age of 74.16 (SD ± 6) years. Ingestion was the major route of exposure (85%) and alcohol overdose (28,7%) was the most frequent type of poisoning. A trend was also observed showing a lower emetic treatment and gastric lavage and an increase in activated charcoal. Benzodiazepines (14.3%) and toxic household products (11%) with caustic properties were also the main toxics found in the study.
Conclusions: Acute poisonings in the elderly required more hospitalizations, have a higher mortality and more autolytic attempts which result in death.