Glasgow Coma Scale in acute poisonings before and after use of antidote in patients with history of use of psychotropic agents.

INTRODUCTION

Data on emergency interventions in poisonings are scarce. Objective To determine the effectiveness of antidote therapy in acute poisoning-related emergency medical services (EMS) interventions.

METHODS

A prospective observational study included all poisoning-related intervention cases over 3 years (1999-2001) in the Celje region, Slovenia, covering 125,000 inhabitants. Data were recorded on an EMS form.

RESULTS

Psychoactive agents were present in 56.5% out of 244 poisoning-related EMS interventions. Prescription drugs were a cause of intoxication in 93 (39.2%) cases alone or in combination with alcohol or illegal drugs. More than one fifth of poisonings were due to the use of illegal drugs in 52 (21.9%) cases, 43 (18.1%) out of them heroin related. At the time of EMS arrival, more patients who ingested illegal drugs were in coma or comatose than the rest. 24 (45.3%) vs. 32 (17.3%) of poisoned patients were in coma (p < 0.001). Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) at the first contact was lower in patients who ingested illegal drugs than in the remaining patients (9.0 vs. 11.6, p = 0.001). In 23.2% of the cases, an antidote was administered. In 29 (12.2%) naloxone and in 16 (6.7%) flumazenil was administered. Mean GCS after intervention was higher in all cases but significantly higher in illegal drug cases, 13.4 vs. 12.2 (p = 0.001), with a mean positive change in GCS of 4.5 vs. 0.6 (p < 0.001). In illegal drug users, mean change after antidote administration was 8.2 vs. 0.5 without antidote administration (p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

High rate of successful antidote use during the intervention indicated the importance of good EMS protocols and the presence of a skilled doctor in the EMS team.