Opioid Complications and Withdrawal
Opioids are frequently used in medicine for pain relief. The most commonly used opioids include morphine sulfate (Duramorph, MS Contin, Roxanol); meperidine (Demerol); hydromorphone (Dilaudid); oxymorphone (Numorphan); methadone; codeine phosphate and codeine sulfate; oxycodone (Percocet, Percodan); and hydrocodone (Hycodan, Vicodin). These substances are also, however, among the most common drugs of abuse. When taken under medical supervision, opioid drugs have a low level of serious toxicity. The most common side effects are nausea, drowsiness, and constipation—but when self-ad-ministered, not under medical supervision, their use is associated with a high incidence of untoward actions and side effects, as well as with a high death rate when used alone or in combination with other drugs (including ALCOHOL).
Table 1 presents estimates of untoward actions of opioids, derived from data collected by the DRUG ABUSE WARNING NETWORK (DAWN), which appeared in the Annual Emergency Room and Medical Examiner Data, 1992. As can be seen, opioids account for approximately 16 percent of emergency room and 64 percent of medical-examiner death reports. (Suspicious and accidental deaths are sent to the county medical examiner.) More than 76 percent of the medical-examiner opioid mentions involve death by opioid drugs in combination with either alcohol or COCAINE, whereas more than 20 percent occur in combination with other opioids.
This is a free page. This page contains 201 words. This
article contains 4,040 words (approx. 13 pages at 300
words per page).
Read the rest of this Article with our Opioid Complications and Withdrawal Access Pass.
