Narcan Effectiveness in ED Treatment of Heroin Overdoses
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Published: Saturday, 05 January 2019 16:06
Recently published in the Acad. Emerg. Med. December 28, 2018
Most patients who overdose on opioids can be safely discharged from the emergency department (ED) as early as an hour after prehospital administration of the opioid antagonist naloxone, the study has found.
Opioid-related ED visits nearly doubled in the United States from 2005 to 2014.
The researchers conducted a prospective study to validate the early discharge rule practiced at St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, Canada, which allows for discharge after 1 hour for those in whom the following six criteria are within normal limits: ambulation, oxygen saturation (> 95%), respiratory rate (>10 and <20 breaths/min), temperature (>35.0° C and <37.5° C), heart rate (>50 and <100 beats/min), and Glasgow Coma Scale score (15).
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