Do emergency physicians need to know definitive treatments? Analysis of patients hospitalised for poisoning.

Objective: To compare the hospitalisation rates and to examine the requirement for physicians in the Emergency Department to have knowledge of definitive treatment in poisoning cases.

Methods: The retrospective study examined the cases 589 adult patients who were admitted to the Emergency Department of Hacettepe University School of Medicine between January 1, 2003, and December 31, 2007, with poisoning. Epidemiological data and hospitalisation rates were compared statistically between the patients with good general medical condition, who required simple medical intervention and were discharged from the emergency service after a short period of observation; and those with poor general medical condition that required hospitalisation.