Acute poisoning in Algeria is poorly evaluated as proved by the few publications in this field. To better understand this issue, we have carried out a retrospective study in the region of Setif (East-Algeria), over a period of 5 years and 03 months, from January 2010 to March 2016. This study objective was to determine the number and the types of cases of poisonings treated their distribution by gender and age of patients, and the type of toxic agents involved and intentionality. During the study period, 5293 cases of acute poisoning were reviewed in the emergency department of the University Hospital of Setif, with an age ranging from 02 days to 100 years. The high incidence was recorded at the age of 16 to 25, with 1 740 cases or 32.87%. The female patients predominated with a percentage of 55% or 2910 cases of poisoning. The frequencies of the highest poisoning were recorded in urban and peri-urban areas with 4106 or 78.52%. The drug intoxication recorded the highest number of reports in the region, with 2275 patients, 42, 64 %, followed by 1689 cases of carbon monoxide poisoning, or 31.91%, and 677 cases of poisoning caustics, or 12.8%, respectively. To reduce the incidence of accidental acute poisoning and volunteers, prevention and improvement of socio-economic conditions remain the treatment of choice.