prevalence of symptoms in patients poisoned with iron in ahvaz razi hospital in 2014-2017

Background: iron is an important element for normal cell metabolism, but in excess amounts is quite cytotoxic, and even deadly. iron poisoning is a calamity repeated many times in the world. iron tablets are specifically tempting to children because they can look similar to candy. iron overdose in adults is usually to attempt suicide. methods: the present study is a descriptive-analytic study based on hospital information, that was conducted among the patients affected with iron poisoning admitted to razi hospital (a referral medical setting for poisoning treatment in southwest iran) during 2014-2017. patient information has been extracted and inserted in the inquiry form and data were analyzed by spss software. results: in this study, 52 patients (94.2% female) were studied. 5 (9.6%) of the women were pregnant. the majority of them (69.2%) were between 15-25 years of age. nausea and vomiting (50%) are two of the most common side effects. 5 patients (9.6%) received deferoxamine. all patients who received deferoxamine had a symptom onset of less than 6 hours. most patients were hospitalized between 6-24 hours post ingestion. 25% of patients took vitamins simultaneously with iron. the serum iron level in 3 patients (5.8%) was above 300 μg/dl. in this study, one patient expired. conclusion: in this study, the prevalence of iron poisoning was examined based on demographic and clinical characteristics. considering the prevalent iron poisoning in young age groups (96.2% suicides), more research in the psychological and social problems is critical for preventative behaviors.