Summary
Analysis of Poisonings Managed in Spanish Hospital Emergency Departments During 2025: Observational Study of the EPITOX Registry
August Supervía1, Francisca Córdoba2, Belén Ruíz Antorán3, Beatriz Martín Pérez4, Agustín Urdangarín5, Santiago Nogué-Xarau5, Ana Ferrer Dufol5 y Grupo de Trabajo EPITOX
Affiliation of the authors
1Servicio de Urgencias, Hospital del Mar, Barcelona, Spain. 2Servicio de Urgencias, Hospital Moisés Broggi, Sant Joan Despí, Barcelona, Spain. 3Servicio de Farmacología Clínica, Hospital Puerta del Hierro, Facultad de Medicina y Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Nebrija, Madrid, Spain. 4Servicio de Urgencias, Hospital Río Ortega, Valladolid, Spain. 5Fundación Española de Toxicología Clínica.
DOI
Quote
Supervía A, Córdoba F, Ruíz Antorán B, Martín Pérez B, Urdangarín A, Nogué-Xarau S, Ferrer Dufol A y Grupo de Trabajo EPITOX. Analysis of Poisonings Managed in Spanish Hospital Emergency Departments During 2025: Observational Study of the EPITOX Registry. Rev Esp Urg Emerg. 2026;5:254-61
Summary
INTRODUCTION. In 2024, Fundación Española de Toxicología Clínica designed an online questionnaire, named EPITOX, with the aim of standardizing the collection of characteristics of patients with poisoning treated in emergency departments (EDs) of Spanish hospitals. The objective of this study was to describe the epidemiological characteristics of poisonings recorded in EPITOX during 2025 and to analyze possible differences compared with the previous year.
METHOD. The EPITOX questionnaire collects demographic data, type of poisoning and toxic agent, episode characteristics, clinical, laboratory, and treatment data, as well as destination after discharge from the ED. Data are recorded anonymously by the principal investigator at each participating center.
RESULTS. A total of 6371 poisonings were recorded. Mean age was 37.8 (18.9) years, with 54.2 % men and 72.3 % patients of Spanish origin. Overall, 58.2 % arrived by ambulance, 53.3 % of poisonings occurred at the patient’s home, and 37 % in a public place. Recreational poisonings accounted for 48.4 %, whereas 28.9 % had suicidal intent. Ethyl alcohol was the most frequently involved toxic agent (44.2 %), followed by drugs (41.5 %) and illegal drugs of abuse (24.4 %). Overall, 79.7 % of poisoned patients were discharged directly from the ED, 3.4 % were admitted to the intensive care unit, 2.5 % to psychiatry (an additional 7.2 % required transfer to a psychiatric center for evaluation), and 4.3 % to a conventional hospital ward. The event mortality rate was 0.4 %.
CONCLUSIONS. The profile of poisoned patients treated in Spanish EDs corresponds to a young Spanish man. The most prevalent toxic agent is ethyl alcohol, followed by drugs and illegal drugs of abuse. Most poisonings are mild, although up to 7.7 % required hospital admission.