The opioid-abuse epidemic is a problem that continues to persist world-wide. As such, appropriately evaluating and treating such patients is crucial, especially when considering the various complications that may arise. In rare cases, opioid overdoses can be complicated by compartment syndrome, rhabdomyolysis, and acute renal failure. All three of these complications can result in life threatening emergencies. We present a case of a 38-year-old male who was brought to the emergency department after reportedly being found lying on the ground for an unknown period of time from suspected heroin overdose. He was initially treated with 2 milligrams (mg) of intramuscular naloxone en route via emergency medical services with appropriate response. Shortly after arrival to the emergency department, the patient complained of severe right lower extremity pain, paresthesia and paralysis. Patient developed acute lower extremity compartment syndrome that was further complicated by rhabdomyolysis and acute renal failure. While emergency medicine physicians are familiar with the common complications of heroin overdose including mental status changes, respiratory depression and gastrointestinal symptoms, they must also be familiar with the less common ones. Notably, acute compartment syndrome. Compartment syndrome is ultimately a clinical diagnosis and warrants emergent surgical consultation. Every patient presenting to the emergency department warrants a complete, thorough physical examination to evaluate for any and all life-threatening conditions, regardless of the presenting complaint.

Heroin-related mortality is a complex phenomenon involving several factors that make an individual more susceptible to opioid toxicity. Among these, pre-existing pathological conditions play an important role. The current paper reviewed 51 autopsied cases performed over the last 30 years, each subject (\"frequent heroin user\") having taken heroin intravenously alone before death. For each case, total blood morphine concentration determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was obtained from the archives. For histopathological evaluation we examined microscopic sections of the heart, lung, brain, liver and kidney, and for each organ a score table with a numerical value from 1 to 5, as an indicator of increasing severity, was drawn up. Finally, we created a scoring system based on the Injury Severity Score (ISS), generated by the sum of the squares of the three highest organ scores. We investigated the relationship between total blood morphine value (mg/l) and pathological score by inserting the two variables in a linear regression model: Score = a + b·Morphinemia (p-value <0.001). The results demonstrated a statistically significant correlation between the two variables: individuals with low total blood morphine values tended to have a higher pathological score. Our study provides useful assessment tools for forensic practice, confirming the need to combine two important disciplines in drug death investigation: forensic pathology and toxicology.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association between psychiatric comorbidities, substance use disorders and heroin overdose-related hospitalizations (HOD). Next, to understand the demographic trend of HOD hospitalizations and comorbidities.
METHODS: Using the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS), we included 27,442,808 child and adolescent hospitalizations, and 1432 inpatients (0.005%) were managed primarily for HOD. The odds ratio (OR) of the association of variables in HOD inpatients were measured using a logistic regression model.
RESULTS: Adolescents had 56 times higher odds (95% CI 43.36-73.30) for HOD-related hospitalizations compared to 4.6% children under 11 years. About three-fifth of the HOD inpatients were male, and they had 1.5-fold higher odds (95% CI 1.30-1.64) compared to 43% females in the study population. Whites were considerably higher in proportion (81%) than other race/ethnicities. A greater portion of HOD inpatients (40%) were from high-income families. Most common comorbid psychiatric disorders were mood (43.8%) and anxiety (20.4%). The prevalent comorbid substance use disorders were opioid (62.4%), tobacco (36.8%) and cannabis (28.5%) use disorders.
CONCLUSIONS: HOD-related hospitalizations were predominant in males, White and older adolescents (12-18 years). Prescription opioids are the bridge to heroin abuse, thereby increasing the vulnerability to other substance abuse. This requires more surveillance and should be explored to help reduce the heroin epidemic in children.

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Take-home naloxone (THN) programs have been implemented in order to reduce the number of heroin-overdose deaths. Because of recent legislative changes in Australia, there is a provision for a greater distribution of naloxone in the community, however, the potential impact of these changes for reduced heroin mortality remains unclear. The aim of this study was to examine the characteristics of the entire cohort of fatal heroin overdose cases and assess whether there was an opportunity for bystander intervention had naloxone been available at the location and time of each of the fatal overdose events to potentially avert the fatal outcome in these cases.
The circumstances related to the fatal overdose event for the cohort of heroin-overdose deaths in the state of Victoria, Australia between 1 January 2012 and 31 December 2013 were investigated. Coronial data were investigated for all cases and data linkage was performed to additionally investigate the Emergency Medical Services information about the circumstances of the fatal heroin overdose event for each of the decedents.
There were 235 fatal heroin overdose cases identified over the study period. Data revealed that the majority of fatal heroin overdose cases occurred at a private residence (n = 186, 79%) and where the decedent was also alone at the time of the fatal overdose event (n = 192, 83%). There were only 38 cases (17%) where the decedent was with someone else or there was a witness to the overdose event, and in half of these cases the witness was significantly impaired, incapacitated or asleep at the time of the fatal heroin overdose. There were 19 fatal heroin overdose cases (8%) identified where there was the potential for appropriate and timely intervention by a bystander or witness.
This study demonstrated that THN introduction alone could have led to a very modest reduction in the number of fatal heroin overdose cases over the study period. A lack of supervision or a witness to provide meaningful and timely intervention was evident in most of the fatal heroin overdose cases.

This article reports on the first implementation of an online opioid-overdose prevention, recognition and response training for laypeople. The training was disseminated nationally in November 2014. Between 2000 and 2014, U.S. opioid deaths increased by 200%. The importance of complementary approaches to reduce opioid overdose deaths, such as online training, cannot be overstated.
A retrospective evaluation was conducted to assess perceived knowledge, skills to intervene in an overdose, confidence to intervene, and satisfaction with the training.
Descriptive statistics were used to report sample characteristics, compare experiences with overdose and/or naloxone between subgroups, and describe participants\' satisfaction with the trainings. Z-ratios were used to compare independent proportions, and paired t-tests were used to compare participant responses to items pre- and posttraining, including perceived confidence to intervene and perceived knowledge and skills to intervene successfully.
Between January and October 2015, 2,450 laypeople took the online training; 1,464 (59.8%) agreed to be contacted. Of these, 311 (21.2% of those contacted) completed the survey. Over 80% reported high satisfaction with content, format and mode of delivery and high satisfaction with items related to confidence and overdose reversal preparedness. Notably, 89.0% of participants felt they had the knowledge and skills to intervene successfully posttraining compared to 20.3% pretraining (z = -17.2, p <.001). Similarly, posttraining, 87.8% of participants felt confident they could successfully intervene compared to 24.4% pretraining (z = -15.9, p <.001).
This study demonstrates the effectiveness of the GetNaloxoneNow.org online training for laypeople.

US opioid overdose death rates have increased between 2000 and 2014. While, the increase in prescription opioid use has been linked to the increase in heroin use, there are reasons to view this relationship as a partial explanation for the recent increase in heroin-related harms. This study documents the differences in trends in prescription opioid overdose-related (POD) and heroin overdose-related (HOD) hospitalizations.
Data come from the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) for the years 2000 through 2014. POD and HOD hospitalizations were abstracted from ICD-9 codes. Rates of POD and HOD by census region and census division were constructed along with separate rates for age and race. Regression analysis analyzing trends across region were estimated along with graphs for documenting differences in POD and HOD rates.
POD hospitalization rates were highest in the South and lowest in the Northeast. HOD hospitalization rates were highest in the Northeast region and grew the fastest in the Midwest. There was statistically significant heterogeneity in HOD trends but not POD trends across the four regions between 2000 and 2014. Between 2012 and 2014 POD rates decreased in eight of the nine census divisions, with only New England showing an increase. HOD hospitalization rates increased in all nine census divisions between 2012 and 2014. Both POD and HOD rates show different demographic patterns across the nine census divisions.
Comparing POD and HOD hospitalization trends reveals significant disparities in geographic as well as demographic distributions. These epidemics are evolving and the simple opioid-to-heroin transition story is both supported and challenged by this paper. The opioid pill, heroin and fentanyl crises are intertwined yet increasingly have drivers and outcomes that support examining them as distinct. Addressing these complex and interrelated epidemics will require innovative public health research and interventions which need to consider local and regional contexts.

Diffuse alveolar hemorrhage (DAH) is a clinical syndrome characterized by pulmonary hemorrhage, respiratory failure, and high early mortality rates. DAH typically appears on chest radiographs as bilateral parenchymal consolidations. To our knowledge, pulmonary hemorrhage associated with heroin overdose has not been reported. We report the clinical and radiographic findings in two cases of acute DAH following heroin overdose. We speculate that an adulterating agent may be the underlying etiology in these cases. While pulmonary edema as a consequence of heroin overdose is well-documented and usually first suspected when consolidations are present on a chest radiograph in a patient with a history of recent heroin use, we believe that DAH should also be considered in the proper clinical context.

暂无摘要。

BACKGROUND: Heroin use in the US has exploded in recent years, and heroin overdoses requiring naloxone are very common. After awakening, some heroin users refuse further treatment or transport to the hospital. These patients may be at risk for recurrent respiratory depression or pulmonary edema. In those transported to the emergency department, the duration of the observation period is controversial. Additionally, non-medical first responders and lay bystanders can administer naloxone for heroin and opioid overdoses. There are concerns about the outcomes and safety of this practice as well.
OBJECTIVE: To search the medical literature related to the following questions: (1) What are the medical risks to a heroin user who refuses ambulance transport after naloxone? (2) If the heroin user is treated in the emergency department with naloxone, how long must they be observed prior to discharge? (3) How effective in heroin users is naloxone administered by first responders and bystanders? Are there risks associated with naloxone distribution programs?
METHODS: We searched PubMed and GoogleScholar with search terms related to each of the questions listed above. The search was limited to English language and excluded patents and citations. The search was last updated on September 31, 2016. The articles found were reviewed for relevance to our objective questions. Eight out of 1020 citations were relevant to the first 2 questions, 5 of 707 were relevant to the third question and 15 of 287 were relevant to the fourth question. In the prehospital environment, does a heroin user revived with naloxone always require ambulance transport and what are the medical risks if ambulance transport is refused after naloxone? The eight articles were all observational studies done either prospectively or retrospectively. Two studies focused on heroin overdoses and included 1069 patients not transported to the hospital. No deaths occurred in this group. In counting the patients from all eight studies, some of which included non-heroin opioid overdoses, there were 5443 patients treated without transport and four deaths from rebound opioid toxicity. The number needed to transport to save one life (NNT) is 1361. Adverse effects were mostly related to opioid withdrawal. If a heroin user is treated in the ED, how long must the patient stay under observation before being safe for discharge? Five articles addressing the duration of ED observation required for patients treated with naloxone for opioid overdoses. Although a wide range of observation durations were reported, one study supported observing patients for one hour. If after this period the patient mobilizes as usual, has normal vital signs, and a Glasgow Coma Scale of 15, they can be discharged safely. What are the likely risks in heroin users following naloxone use by lay bystanders or first responders? Of the 15 relevant papers, a systematic review reported a 100% survival rate in eleven studies and a range of 96-99% survival in the remaining four. Two other studies suffered from poor follow-up and had lower success rates of 83% and 89%. Few if any risks were associated with opioid overdose prevention programs in which lay people were trained to administer naloxone.
CONCLUSIONS: Patients revived with naloxone after heroin overdose may be safely released without transport to the hospital if they have normal mentation and vital signs. In the absence of co-intoxicants and further opioid use there is very low risk of death from rebound opioid toxicity. For those patients treated in the ED for opioid overdose, an observation period of one hour is sufficient if they ambulate as usual, have normal vital signs and a Glasgow Coma Scale of 15. Patients suffering opioid toxicity can be administered naloxone safely by first responders and trained lay people. Programs that train these individuals are likely safe and beneficial, however further research is necessary.