Hany A. Zaki; Yavuz Yigit; Mohamed AM Elgassim; Eman E. Shaban; Stuart A Lloyd; Thamir Hashim; Mazin SE Mohamed; Aftab Mohammad Azad
Volume 12, Issue 3 , July 2024, , Pages 103-110
Abstract
Objective: The present study aimed to evaluate the clinical benefits and drawbacks of administering ECMO/ECLS therapies to drug-intoxicated patients.Methods: From inception until April 30, 2024, an extensive search was performed on four main databases:PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and EMBASE. ...
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Objective: The present study aimed to evaluate the clinical benefits and drawbacks of administering ECMO/ECLS therapies to drug-intoxicated patients.Methods: From inception until April 30, 2024, an extensive search was performed on four main databases:PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and EMBASE. There was no restriction on the search period. Onlythe studies that reported survival to hospital discharge rates, adverse events, and the utilization of ECMO/ECLSin the treatment of intoxicated patients were included. On the other hand, articles that did not report adverseevents or hospital discharge rates as outcomes, as well as studies published in languages other than English,were excluded. The evaluated outcomes were the rate of survival to hospital discharge rate and the incidenceof adverse events associated with ECMO therapy. The Newcastle Ottawa scale was employed to appraise eachstudy to determine its methodological quality. The Comprehensive Meta-Analysis (CMA) software (version3.0) for statistical analysis was used, with the random effects model (due to high heterogeneity among thestudies) and a 95% confidence interval.Results: From a total search of 2216 search results, only 10 studies were included. The pooled analysis from10 studies indicated that ECMO therapies among drug-overdosed/poisoned patients were associated witha significant survival to hospital discharge rate of 65.6% ([95% CI: 51.5%-77.4%], p=0.030). However, theoutcomes were highly heterogeneous (I2=83.47%), which could be attributed to the use of several medicinesby different studies. In contrast, ECMO therapies among drug-overdosed patients were associated with asignificant incidence rate of adverse events of 23.1% ([95% CI: 12.3%-39.2%], p=0.002). However, the pooledanalysis had a significant heterogeneity (I2=70.27%).Conclusion: Despite various health complications, extracorporeal membrane treatment enhanced survival tohospital discharge with good neurological outcomes. Hence, it was a viable, effective, and feasible alternativefor managing drug-induced intoxication in patients.
Seyed Mostafa Mirakbari; Amir Mohammad Kazemifar; Abbas Allami; Ameneh Barikani
Volume 12, Issue 1 , January 2024, , Pages 21-25
Abstract
Objective: This study aimed to investigate the incidence and pattern of tramadol-induced seizures and injuriesin patients admitted to the hospital.Methods: The cross-sectional study included 300 patients with alleged tramadol intoxication. Demographicinformation, tramadol dosage and duration of abuse, ...
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Objective: This study aimed to investigate the incidence and pattern of tramadol-induced seizures and injuriesin patients admitted to the hospital.Methods: The cross-sectional study included 300 patients with alleged tramadol intoxication. Demographicinformation, tramadol dosage and duration of abuse, co-existing illicit drug abuse, hospital stay length, andoccurrence of seizures and trauma (type and site of injuries) were collected. Different statistical tests, includingthe Mann-Whitney U-test, Pearson’s Chi-square test, and Student’s t-test, were conducted to compare thepatients with and without seizures, trauma, and co-ingestion of illicit drugs. The analysis was performed usingSPSS software (version 21.0). A p value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results: The average patient’s age was 24.66±5.64 years, with males comprising 84.3% of the sample. Themean tramadol dose and duration of abuse were 1339.3±1310.2 mg and 2.43±1.35 years, respectively. Seizureswere observed in 66% of patients, with men having a higher incidence (69.6% vs. 46.8%; p=0.004). Trauma wasreported in 23% of patients, accounting for 35.4% of seizure cases. All trauma patients had experienced seizures,with the head and neck being the most prevalent injury sites (55.1%), typically presenting as abrasions (55.9%).Patients with seizures and trauma had an average hospital stay of 1.73±0.94 days, which was significantlylonger.Conclusion: Trauma occurs in more than one-third of tramadol-induced seizures, highlighting the needto perform physical examinations to detect and localize injuries. Tramadol-associated traumas prolongedhospitalization times and thus required prompt attention to prevent further injuries during pre-hospital handlingand transferring to hospitals.