Clinical Review: Loperamide Toxicity - 26/07/17

, David N. Juurlink, MD, PhD b, c, dAbstract |
Loperamide is a nonprescription opioid widely used for the treatment of diarrhea. Although it is relatively safe at therapeutic doses, increasing reports describe its misuse and abuse at very high doses either for euphoric effects or to attenuate symptoms of opioid withdrawal. Life-threatening loperamide toxicity can result from the relatively new clinical syndrome of loperamide-induced cardiac toxicity. These patients are often young and may present in cardiac arrest or with unheralded, recurrent syncope in conjunction with ECG abnormalities, including marked QT-interval prolongation, QRS-interval widening, and ventricular dysrhythmias. Features of conventional opioid toxicity may also be present. The mainstays of treatment include advanced cardiac life support and supportive care, although selected patients may be candidates for overdrive pacing, intravenous lipid emulsion, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. In patients who survive loperamide toxicity, consideration should be given to the treatment of an underlying opioid use disorder, if present.
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| Supervising editor: Richard C. Dart, MD, PhD |
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| Authorship: All authors attest to meeting the four ICMJE.org authorship criteria: (1) Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND (2) Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; AND (3) Final approval of the version to be published; AND (4) Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved. |
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| Funding and support: By Annals policy, all authors are required to disclose any and all commercial, financial, and other relationships in any way related to the subject of this article as per ICMJE conflict of interest guidelines (see www.icmje.org/). The authors have stated that no such relationships exist. |
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Vol 70 - N° 2
P. 245-252 - août 2017 Retour au numéroBienvenue sur EM-consulte, la référence des professionnels de santé.
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