Pattern of Acute Antipsychotic Drug- Toxicity in Children at Assiut University Children Hospital

Acute poisoning in pediatrics is very common as it is one of the prominent causes of mortality and morbidity worldwide as, children are curious and they explore at home and around. Acute poisoning has also been the 3rd most common treated injury for children less than 16 years in the emergency units. Accidental ingestion is one of the most important causes of poisoning in children and is most prevalent between 1-5 year olds. During adolescence, medications used for committing suicide are the main cause of poisoning.

Drug ingestion is the commonest cause of acute poisoning among children according to poison control centers records all over the world. A great percent of hospital admission cases involves drug poisoning, particularly with psychotropic drugs such as sedatives, antidepressants, and neuroleptics.

Antipsychotics are primary used to treat agitated behavior , various neurological conditions (motor tics ,chorea and dystonia),schizophrenia, manic phase of bipolar disorders; however they are often used to treat nausea, vomiting and headache. Antipsychotics toxic effects include anticholinergic and extrapyramidal syndromes as well as CNS and cardiovascular depression.

Antipsychotics are classified as ""typical"" or ""atypical."" They are also classified by their chemical structure as first-generation, including butyrophenones (droperidol, haloperidol) and phenothiazines (chlorpromazine, promethazine), and second generation such as olanzapine, risperidone, quetiapine, and more recently ziprasidone and aripiprazole.

Second-generation antipsychotics, or ''atypical antipsychotics,'' were introduced in 1989 and were anticipated to be equally effective for treatment of psychosis.They also had the advertised advantage of fewer extrapyramidal side effects such as dystonias, akathisia, parkinsonism, and tardive dyskinesia, at therapeutic dosing.