Emergency Med Medical News about OxyContin Abuse; Overdose

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OxyContin Abuse and Overdose
Postgraduate Medicine, 05/01/09

Aquina CT et al. - OxyContin (controlled-release oxycodone hydrochloride) (Purdue Pharma, Stamford, CT) was approved in 1995 by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for moderate-to-severe chronic pain. Crushing and snorting the delayed-release tablets results in a rapid release of the drug, increased absorption, and high peak serum concentrations...Many of the clinical findings in acute opioid overdoses are nonspecific, making diagnosis difficult. OxyContin overdose presents with a typical opiate toxidrome, including decreased respirations, miosis, hypothermia, bradycardia, hypotension, and altered mental status. If OxyContin overdose is suspected, early ventilation and oxygenation should be administered, which is generally sufficient to prevent death. Even in the absence of a confirmation, cautious administration of naloxone - the opiate receptor antagonist and antidote for opioid overdoses - may have both diagnostic and therapeutic effects.

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