ABSTRACT
Iron-containing products remain a continuing toxicologic hazard to children. In the 1987 report of the American Association of Poison Control Centers' National Data Collection System, 17,145 cases of acute iron ingestion had been reported to 63 participating regional poison centers involved in data collection. Despite the frequency of iron intoxication and the many articles suggesting various therapies for iron intoxication, the management and determination of severity during acute iron poisoning remains, for clinicians, an area of confusion and much controversy. The pathophysiology of iron intoxication was initially described by T. J. Covey. The clinical features of this condition can be characterized by five stages: gastrointestinal (GI) toxicity, apparent improvement and stability, circulatory shock, hepatic necrosis, and gastric scarring. In rare cases of iron intoxication, late sequelae such as hepatic necrosis and GI scarring with obstruction may occur. Iron acutely and directly damages the GI tract.
