About this episode
Contributor: Don Stader, MD Educational Pearls: Patients are more likely to survive an opioid overdose if they have naloxone 10% risk of death in the year following an opioid overdose of patients seen in the ED Those who receive naloxone: Have better survival rates Are more likely to enter recovery Are more likely to use the naloxone on another person who has overdosed Better to give the patient naloxone at discharge from the ED as rates of filling prescriptions are low Any patient who uses illicit drugs, chronic opioid medications, or opioids with benzodiazepines are good candidates for naloxone at discharge Remember to instruct the patient and those who live with them on how to use it References Gunn AH, Smothers ZPW, Schramm-Sapyta N, Freiermuth CE, MacEachern M, Muzyk AJ. The Emergency Department as an Opportunity for Naloxone Distribution. West J Emerg Med. 2018;19(6):1036-1042. doi:10.5811/westjem.2018.8.38829 Olfson M, Wall M, Wang S, Crystal S, Blanco C. Risks of fatal opioid overdose during the first year following nonfatal overdose. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2018;190:112-119. doi:10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2018.06.004 Olfson M, Crystal S, Wall M, Wang S, Liu SM, Blanco C. Causes of Death After Nonfatal Opioid Overdose [published correction appears in JAMA Psychiatry. 2018 Aug 1;75(8):867]. JAMA Psychiatry. 2018;75(8):820-827. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2018.1471 http://naloxoneproject.com/ Summarized by John Spartz, MS3 | Edited by Erik Verzemnieks, MD The Emergency Medical Minute is excited to announce that we are now offering AMA PRA Category 1 credits™ via online course modules. To access these and for more information, visit our website at www.emergencymedicalminute.com/cme-courses/ and create an account. Donate to EMM today!