Objective: Poisoning and suicide in children are still important problems throughout the world. In the present study we aimed to present the etiology, clinical features, outcomes and other characteristics of childhood poisoning and suicide in a developing European country.

Material and Methods: The medical records of children, aged 0-18 years, admitted to the pediatric emergency department with acute poisoning were analysed retrospectively. The toxic agent, amount, route of intake, reason and time elapsed between the substance intake and admission were evaluated.

Results: A total of 297 children with acute poisoning were analysed, The median age was 3.8 years (range 1 months to 17 years) and the Male/Female ratio was 134/163. Of the total 51.9%, were below 4 years of age. It was noted that 73.1% of poisoning cases were accidental. Poisoning mostly occurred via the oral route at 87.9%. The most common etiological drug was a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug at 3.1%. 235 out of 297 (79.1%) children were poisoned by a single intoxicant. Nearly 89.6% of the cases presented within the first 6 hours. Accidental poisoning was seen mostly in younger children, with a single intoxicant, in the summer months, and during the daytime while suicidal poisonings occurred at an older age, with multiple intoxicants, in the winter months and during the night hours. conclusion: It is seen that poisoning in young children occurs during daylight hours and can be preventable. It is therefore important to increase the awareness of the families about the precautions that should be taken to protect the young children from poisoning. In addition, characteristics of the suicides and the reasons behind them must be clearly documented in every population to prevent undesirable results

Keywords: Childhood, Epidemiology, Poisoning