Articles: opioid.
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Prescription opioid abuse has increased to epidemic proportions in the United States. Kentucky, along with other states, passed comprehensive legislation to monitor and curb opioid prescribing. ⋯ Our facility experienced a decrease in the number of patients who abused prescription opioids and an increase in the number of patients who abused heroin over the study period. The transition seemed to occur just prior to, or concurrent with, enforcement of statewide opioid legislation.
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Drug Alcohol Depend · Dec 2017
Characteristics of self-inflicted drug overdose deaths in North Carolina.
Drug overdose mortality is a major public health concern in the United States, with prescription opioids contributing substantially to recent increases in drug overdose deaths. Compared to unintentional drug overdose deaths, relatively little data describes intentional self-inflicted drug overdose deaths (i.e., suicide by drug overdose). The aim of this study was to examine the characteristics of self-inflicted drug overdose deaths, overall and in comparison to unintentional drug overdose deaths. ⋯ The results highlight the use of prescription opioids, benzodiazepines, and antidepressants among self-inflicted drug overdose decedents. Importantly, the results indicate that self-inflicted drug overdose decedents were more likely than unintentional drug overdose decedents to have potential contact with the health care system in the weeks preceding death, offering an opportunity for professionals to identify and intervene on risk factors or signs of distress and potential for self-harm.
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Opioid-based analgesics are a major component of the lengthy pain management of burn patients, including military service members, but are problematic due to central nervous system-mediated side effects. Peripheral analgesia via targeted ablation of nociceptive nerve endings that express the transient receptor potential vanilloid channel 1 (TRPV1) may provide an improved approach. We hypothesized that local injection of the TRPV1 agonist resiniferatoxin (RTX) would produce long-lasting analgesia in a rat model of pain associated with burn injury. ⋯ These results indicate that local RTX induces long-lasting analgesia in a rat model of pain associated with burn. While opioids are undesirable in trauma patients due to side effects, RTX may provide valuable long-term, nonopioid analgesia for burn patients.
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Annals of intensive care · Dec 2017
Implementation and evaluation of a paediatric nurse-driven sedation protocol in a paediatric intensive care unit.
Optimal sedation and analgesia is a challenge in paediatric intensive care units (PICU) because of difficulties in scoring systems and specific metabolism inducing tolerance and withdrawal. Excessive sedation is associated with prolonged mechanical ventilation and hospitalisation. Adult and paediatric data suggest that goal-directed sedation algorithms reduce the duration of mechanical ventilation. We implemented a nurse-driven sedation protocol in a PICU and evaluated its impact. ⋯ These results were promising and suggested that implementation of a nurse-driven sedation protocol in a PICU was feasible. Evaluation of sedation and analgesia was better after the protocol implementation; duration of mechanical ventilation and occurrence of withdrawal symptoms tended to be reduced.
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When codeine and tramadol are used for pain management, it is imperative that nurses are able to assess for potential drug-gene and drug-drug-gene interactions that could adversely impact drug metabolism and ultimately pain relief. Both drugs are metabolized through the CYP2D6 metabolic pathway which can be affected by medications as well the patient's own pharmacogenotype. The purpose of this brief report is to identify drug-gene and drug-drug-gene interactions in 30 adult patients prescribed codeine or tramadol for pain. ⋯ Our findings from this exploratory study underscores the importance of assessing and accounting for drug-gene and drug-drug-gene interactions in patients prescribed codeine or tramadol.