Ingestion of Toxic Substances by Children

Ingestion of a harmful substance is among the most common causes of injury to children less than six years of age. Fortunately, in most cases, the ingested agent has minimal or no clinically important toxic effect. Occasionally, however, such ingestion can be life-threatening or can even result in death. Although preventive measures have been remarkably successful in reducing the frequency and severity of poisoning in children, poisoning continues to occur and requires strategies for treatment and prevention that are safe and effective. In this review, I discuss the management of poisoning in children, with an emphasis on current guidelines for . . .