Clinical and Evolutionary Aspects of Domestic Accidents in a Tunisian Pediatric Population

Abstract

Domestic accidents are a global public health problem. They are responsible for high levels of morbidity and mortality in the pediatric population. In Tunisia, the extent of this problem remains poorly understood. The aim of this study was to determine the nature, prevalence and prognosis of domestic accidents in a Tunisian pediatric population. This was a monocentric retrospective study that collected cases of domestic accidents in children in the Pediatric Medicine Unit A of the Tunis Children’s Hospital over a two-year period (2022 – 2023). Six hundred patients were hospitalized for domestic accidents, representing 6.83% of the department’s activity. The sex ratio was 1.06. The mean age of the patients was 54 ± 42 months. The mean time from accident to emergency consultation was 6 ± 2.5 hours [1 hour – 10 days]. The most common accidents were carbon monoxide poisoning (33%), drug poisoning (24.3%), foreign body inhalation/ingestion (10.3%), caustic ingestion (17.7%), pesticide poisoning (4.5%), and hydrocarbon poisoning (4.5%). The mean length of hospital stay was 1.63 ± 1.6 days. The outcome was favorable in almost all cases (99.8%). A serious accident was observed in 0.7% of cases, with an average intensive care unit stay of 3 ± 1.4 days. This study provides an overview of domestic accidents in a general pediatric ward in Tunisia.