Sedative poisoning

OBJECTIVES: Xylazine has emerged as a consistent part of the unregulated drug supply in recent months. We discuss major domains of xylazine's harm, current knowledge deficits, clinical and harm reduction strategies for minimizing harm, and xylazine's public health and policy context. As an interdisciplinary team from across the USA, we have pooled our knowledge to provide an overview of xylazine's current and emerging contexts. METHODS: To inform this essay, the pertinent literature was reviewed, clinical knowledge and protocols were shared by multiple clinicians with direct expertise, and policy and public health context were added by expert authors...

BACKGROUND: Z-Drugs are a category of non-benzodiazepine sedative-hypnotic drugs that include Zolpidem, Zopiclone and Zaleplon. They are all rapidly adsorbed and have a very short half- life, features that make them first-line treatment of insomnia and, in the meantime, first-choice drugs in cases of poisoning for criminal purposes. Z-drugs are frequently use in Drug Facilitated Crime cases (DFC) and Drug Facilitated Sexual Assault (DFSA), namely crimes, robberies, extortion and sexual violence committed after administration of incapacitating substances able to induce sedative-hypnotic effects...

INTRODUCTION: Children are most often harmed by acute poisoning, which may cause disability or even death. This demonstrates the critical necessity for epidemiologic studies specific to each nation and area since they aid in developing plans for the prevention of acute poisoning. There are no data or outdated data on acute poisoning in children in Vietnam. This research would partly fill this existing gap and compare the trend with other places across the globe. METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted in the 10-year period from 2012 to 2021 in Haiphong Children's Hospital, Vietnam...

BACKGROUND: Clozapine is an anti-psychotic agent, reserved for treatment-resistant schizophrenia, with demonstrated efficacy in an otherwise therapeutically challenging patient population. We aimed to review the full spectrum casemix of clozapine presentations to our tertiary toxicology service. METHODS: In this retrospective study, we reviewed consecutive clozapine related toxicity presentations to a tertiary medical toxicology inpatient and consultation service-including deliberate self-poisoning (DSP), adverse drug reaction (ADR), recreational use, and therapeutic misadventure over a 10-year period from 2011 to 2021...

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate the trend of hospital admissions related to poisoning by narcotics and psychodysleptics and poisoning by antiepileptic, sedative-hypnotic, and antiparkinsonism drugs in England and Wales between April 1999 and April 2020. METHODS: An observational ecological study were conducted using data from the Hospital Episode Statistics database in England and the Patient Episode Database for Wales. The rate of hospital admissions with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) was calculated by dividing the number of episodes of poisoning by narcotics and psychodysleptics related admission and poisoning by antiepileptic, sedative-hypnotic, and antiparkinsonism drugs-related admission by the mid-year population from the Office for National Statistics...

Cape Vultures (Gyps coprotheres) are a vulnerable Old-World Vulture species in southern Africa. Of the numerous threats to their survival, malicious and accidental poisonings remain a major concern. Despite the dangers of poisonings little is however known about the more insidious effects of toxins on egg survival, despite the species known to have a long generational length. For this study, an extensive literature review focusing on veterinary pharmaceuticals was undertaken. Literature for vultures was scarce, with most studies focusing on the domestic chicken...

AIM: We aimed to investigate whether there is a difference in the rate of decrease in carboxyhemoglobin (COHB) values between high-flow nasal oxygen (HFNO) and normobaric oxygen (NBO) therapy. MATERIAL AND METHOD: This retrospective observational study included patients with carbon monoxide poisoning who were treated with HFNO or NBO (control group). All patients were started on NBO therapy with a non-rebreather face mask at a rate of 15 L/min...

IMPORTANCE: Determining the association between drug use and suicide is complicated but can help to inform targeted suicide prevention strategies. OBJECTIVE: To examine the substances prevalent in poisoning- and nonpoisoning-related suicides in Australia. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This was a multiple-year, cross-sectional study of suicides from July 2013 to October 2019 in Australia with toxicology data available in a national coronial database...

INTRODUCTION: Due to the risk of overdoses increase especially with methadone, a reinforced monitoring has been set up by the French Addictovigilance Network following the first lockdown related to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In this context, we managed a specific study to analyze overdoses related to methadone in 2020 compared to 2019. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We analyzed methadone-related overdoses which occurred in 2019 and 2020 from two sources: DRAMES program (deaths with toxicological analysis) and the French pharmacovigilance database (BNPV) (overdoses that did not lead to death)...

Overdose of acetaminophen, a widely used antipyretic and analgesic drug, is one of the leading causes of drug-induced acute liver injury in the United States and worldwide. Phase-I metabolism of acetaminophen generates the toxic N -acetyl- p -benzoquinone imine (NAPQI) intermediate. Reactions of NAPQI with a wide range of biomolecules cause increased oxidative stress, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, inflammation, and mitochondrial dysfunction, some of the cellular events contributing toward liver toxicity...

INTRODUCTION: There are increasing concerns about harms related to sub-optimal antipsychotic use. Here we describe recent population-based trends in antipsychotic use and harms in Australia and identify population groups exhibiting patterns of use likely to contribute to these harms. METHODS: Using population-based data from the Australian Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (2015-2020); poisoning calls to New South Wales (NSW) Poisons Information Centre (2015-2020); and poisoning deaths in all coronial records (2005-2018) in Australia, we measured trends in the prevalence of antipsychotic use and related deaths and poisonings...

INTRODUCTION: This is the 2021 Annual Report of the Kansas Poison Control Center (KSPCC) at The University of Kansas Health System. The KSPCC serves the state of Kansas 24-hours a day, 365 days a year with certified specialists in poison information and clinical and medical toxicologists. METHODS: Encounters reported to the KSPCC from January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2021 were analyzed. Data recorded includes caller demographics, exposure substance, nature and route of exposure, interventions, medical outcome, disposition, and location of care...

OBJECTIVES: To determine the numbers and types of medicines dispensed around the time of death to people who die by suicide; to compare the medicines recently dispensed and those recorded in post mortem toxicology reports. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS: Analysis of linked National Coronial Information System (NCIS) and Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) data from the Australian Suicide Prevention using Health Linked Data (ASHLi) study, a population-based case series study of closed coronial cases for deaths of people in Australia aged ten years or more during 1 July 2013 - 10 October 2019 deemed by coroners to be the result of intentional self-harm...

Trazodone is a medication used to treat major depressive disorder (MDD). It is in the serotonin-antagonist-and-reuptake-inhibitor class of medications with anti-cholinergic effects. Trazodone is known for its sedative effects and is hence often prescribed in those with MDD with concurrent insomnia. While few, there have been reports of patients overdosing on trazodone and developing QTc prolongation leading to fatal arrhythmias such as torsades des pointes and variable atrioventricular blocks. We present a case of a 45-year-old female with a past medical history of MDD and anxiety, who presented with dizziness, transient ataxia, and urinary incontinence following ingestion of five 100 mg trazodone tablets...

Pain is one of the most common symptoms of malignant peritoneal mesothelioma. Therefore, analgesia serves an indispensable role in the treatment of this condition. Morphine is a representative opioid, which is widely used in clinical practice; however, excessive or unreasonable application can cause poisoning. Few cases of morphine poisoning have been reported, and cases of morphine poisoning in patients with malignant peritoneal mesothelioma are even more rare. Here, we present a case of morphine poisoning in a patient with malignant peritoneal mesothelioma...

We measured rates of hospital admissions for mental health disorders and self-poisoning during the pandemic in patients without COVID-19, compared to those admitted before the pandemic. Data were collected from 01/04/2019 to 31/03/2021, including the pandemic period from 01/03/2020. There were 10 173 (47.7% men) from the pre-pandemic and 11 019 (47.5% men) from the pandemic periods; mean age = 68.3 year. During the pandemic, admission rates for mental health disorders and self-poisoning were higher for any given age and sex...

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the patterns and trends of suspected suicides and suicide attempts involving antipsychotic or sedative-hypnotic medications reported to United States poison centers. METHODS: Data from the National Poison Data System for 2000 through 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. RESULTS: There were 972,975 suspected suicides and suicide attempts with antipsychotics or sedative-hypnotics ranked as the primary substance reported to poison centers from 2000-2021, averaging 44,226 cases annually...

BACKGROUND: Poisoning occurs when a person is exposed to an external substance at a too high dose for them. It is possible for young children to be exposed to chemicals. Lungs, the heart, CNS, the digestive tract, and kidneys can be poisoned. In 2004, over 45,000 children and teenagers died from acute poisoning, representing 13% of all accidental poisoning deaths worldwide. Poisoning patterns vary by exposure type, age group, poison type, and dose. AIM: This study assessed the pattern of acute poisoning with drugs, chemicals, and natural toxins among children (<12 years old)...

OBJECTIVES: to assess the clinical care impact resulting from the lack of a regional reference Centre for Paediatric Poisoning in Liguria Region (Northern Italy) and to describe the demographic and clinical characteristics of paediatric patients who accessed the Emergency Department of the 'Gaslini' Paediatric Hospital (Genoa, Liguria Region) for intoxication. DESIGN: retrospective cohort study. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: patients' cases of both sexes, <18 years old, who accessed the Emergency Department of the 'Gaslini' Paediatric Hospital between January 2017 and December 2019 for intoxication...

Animals that consume fermenting fruit and nectar are at risk of exposure to ethanol and the detrimental effects of inebriation. In this report, we show that the hormone FGF21, which is strongly induced by ethanol in murine and human liver, stimulates arousal from intoxication without changing ethanol catabolism. Mice lacking FGF21 take longer than wild-type littermates to recover their righting reflex and balance following ethanol exposure. Conversely, pharmacologic FGF21 administration reduces the time needed for mice to recover from ethanol-induced unconsciousness and ataxia...