How Emergency Physicians Approach Refusal of Observation after Naloxone Resuscitation

BackgroundPatients who are resuscitated with naloxone frequently refuse a period of observation, even though they may be suffering from a variety of medical and psychiatric comorbidities. Emergency physicians (EPs) are then confronted with the challenge of how best to serve patients’ interests while respecting autonomy.ObjectivesWe sought to characterize how EPs think about this kind of dilemma and the strategies they use to resolve them.MethodsWe conducted qualitative semi-structured interviews with a convenience sample of 59 emergency physicians attending the American College of Emergency Physicians’ Scientific Assembly in October 2018. Three case vignettes highlighting different clinical and ethical features served as prompts. Interviews were analyzed using a constant comparative method to identify patterns of responses and derive key themes.ResultsAcross the vignettes, EPs demonstrated diverse approaches to observation, assessing decision-making capacity and encouraging compliance. Some EPs refused to comply with a patient's wishes even when they had determined a patient demonstrated capacity. Conversely, a few EPs were willing to allow patients to leave the emergency department (ED) without assessing capacity, or despite determining that the patient lacked capacity. Common reasons for complying with patients' demands were concerns about the patients' rights and concerns about the safety of staff. Most physicians interviewed reported no institutional guidelines or education on the topic, and many physicians expressed an interest in providing medication for addiction treatment in the ED.ConclusionsEPs approach this clinical and ethical dilemma in widely divergent ways. Consensus about strategies for navigating patients’ wishes relative to clinical concerns are needed to help EPs manage these challenging cases.     

Opioid overdose prevention education for medical students: Adopting harm reduction into mandatory clerkship curricula

Abstract

Background: Opioid overdose deaths constitute a public health crisis in the United States. Strategies for reducing opioid-related harm are underutilized due in part to clinicians’ low knowledge about harm reduction theory and limited preparedness to prescribe naloxone. Educational interventions are needed to improve knowledge and attitudes about, and preparedness to address, opioid overdoses among medical students. Methods: Informed by the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Overdose Education and Naloxone Distribution (OEND) program and narrative medicine, we developed and led a mandatory workshop on harm reduction for clerkship medical students. Using validated scales, we assessed students’ knowledge and attitudes about, and preparedness to address, opioid overdoses before the workshop and 6 weeks after. Results: Of 75 participating students from February through December 2017, 55 (73%) completed pre-workshop and 38 (51%) completed both pre- and post-workshop surveys. At baseline, 40 (73%) encountered patients with perceived at-risk opioid use in the previous 6 weeks, but only 11 (20%) recalled their teams prescribing naloxone for overdose prevention. Among those completing both surveys, knowledge about and preparedness to prevent overdose showed large improvement (Cohen’s d?=?0.85, P?<?.001; Cohen’s d?=?1.24, P?<?.001, respectively) and attitudes showed moderate improvement (Cohen’s d?=?0.32, P = .04). Discussion: Educational interventions grounded in harm reduction theory can increase students’ knowledge and attitudes about, and preparedness to address, opioid overdoses.     

Degree of Bystander-Patient Relationship and Prehospital Care for Opioid Overdose

Abstract

Background

Across the spectrum of patient care for opioid overdose, an important, yet frequently overlooked feature is the bystander, or witness to the overdose event. For other acute medical events such as cardiac arrest and stroke, research supports that the presence of a bystander is associated with better outcomes. Despite the similarities, however, this well-established conceptual framework has yet to be applied in the context of overdose patient outcomes. The objective of this study was to assess the association between the nature of the bystander-patient relationship and prehospital care measures in patients being treated for opioid overdose.     

The possible mechanisms of protocatechuic acid-induced central analgesia

It is aimed to investigate the central antinociceptive effect of protocatechuic acid and the involvement of stimulation of opioidergic, serotonin 5-HT_2A/2C, α2-adrenergic and muscarinic receptors in protocatechuic acid-induced central analgesia in mice. Time-dependent antinociceptive effects of protocatechuic acid at the oral doses of 75, 150 and 300?mg/kg were tested in hot-plate (integrated supraspinal response) and tail-immersion (spinal reflex) tests in mice. To investigate the mechanisms of action; the mice administered 300?mg/kg protocatechuic acid (p.o.) were pre-treated with non-specific opioid antagonist naloxone (5?mg/kg, i.p.), serotonin 5-HT_2A/2C receptor antagonist ketanserin (1?mg/kg, i.p.), α2-adrenoceptor antagonist yohimbine (1?mg/kg, i.p.) and non-specific muscarinic antagonist atropine (5?mg/kg, i.p.), respectively. The antinociceptive effect of protocatechuic acid was observed at the doses of 75, 150 and 300?mg/kg in tail-immersion test, at the doses of 150 and 300?mg/kg in hot-plate test at different time interval. The enhancement in the latency of protocatechuic acid-induced response to thermal stimuli was antagonized by yohimbine, naloxone and atropine in tail-immersion test, while it was antagonized only by yohimbine and naloxone pretreatments in hot-plate test. These results indicated that protocatechuic acid has the central antinociceptive action that is probably organized by spinal mediated cholinergic and opiodiergic, also spinal and supraspinal mediated noradrenergic modulation. However, further studies are required to understand how protocatechuic acid organizes the interactions of these modulatory systems. As a whole, these findings reinforce that protocatechuic acid is a potential agent that might be used for pain relief. Additionally, the clarification of the effect and mechanisms of action of protocatechuic acid will contribute to new therapeutic approaches and provide guidance for new drug development studies.     

疏血通注射液联合纳洛酮治疗慢性肺心病急性加重期的临床研究

目的 探讨疏血通注射液联合纳洛酮治疗慢性肺心病急性加重期对血浆内皮素（ET-1）的影响。方法 采用回顾性与便利抽样研究方法,病例收治时间为2010年2月—2016年12月,选择在此期间在西安市五环集团职工医院诊治的慢性肺心病急性加重期患者122例,按照治疗方法的区别分为观察组与对照组各61例,对照组给予纳洛酮治疗,2 mg加入0.9% NaCl注射液100 mL中静滴,1次/d。观察组在对照组治疗的基础上给予疏血通注射6 mL加入0.9% NaCl注射液100 mL中静滴,1次/d。两组都治疗观察28 d。比较两组疗效、三尖瓣区最大返流速度（V_max）和肺动脉压（PAPs）及ET-1水平,同时比较两组凝血功能指标。结果 对照组总有效率为86.9%,观察组为98.4%,观察组显著高于对照组（P<0.05）。治疗后两组的V_max值、PAPs值与血浆ET-1含量均显著低于治疗前（P<0.05）,且观察组显著低于对照组（P<0.05）。治疗后两组的凝血酶原时间（PT）、活化部分凝血活酶时间（APTT）与凝血酶时间（TT）值都显著高于治疗前（P<0.05）,且治疗后观察组显著高于对照组（P<0.05）。结论 疏血通注射液联合纳洛酮治疗慢性肺心病急性加重期能抑制血浆ET-1的表达,改善肺动脉压力,具有抗凝的作用,从而有利于提高治疗疗效。