Category: Toxicology
Keywords: naloxone dose, recurrence of opioid toxicity (PubMed Search)
Posted: 8/23/2018 by Hong Kim, MD
Click here to contact Hong Kim, MD
Various intial doses of naloxone (0.4 to 2 mg) are administered to reverse the signs and symptoms of opioid toxicity. However, there is limited data regarding the duration of action of naloxone is correlated to the administered dose.
A recently published retrospective study investigated whether initial naloxone doses (IV), low-dose (0.4 mg) vs. high-dose (1-2 mg), lead to different time to recurrence of opioid toxicity.
Study sample: 274 patient screened but 84 patients were included.
Higher rate of adverse effects (withdrawal symptoms - vomiting, agitation, tachycardia, etc.) were observed in high-dose group (41% vs. 31%) but this was not statistically signficant.
Conclusion:
Wong F et al. Comparison of lower-dose versus higher-dose invetravenous naloxone on time to recurrence of opioid toxicity in the emergency department. Clin Toxicol (Phila) 2018 Jul 23:1-6. doi: 10.1080/15563650.2018.1490420. [Epub ahead of print]