Relationship between abnormal pupillary reactivity and the outcome of a psychotropic drug overdose

• Published in: The American Journal of Emergency Medicine Vol. 28; no. 6; pp. 703 - 707
• Main Authors: Yanagawa, Youichi, Miyazaki, Masaki, Sakamoto, Toshihisa
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Elsevier Inc 01.07.2010; Elsevier BV; Elsevier; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Adult; Anesthesia. Intensive care medicine. Transfusions. Cell therapy and gene therapy; Biological and medical sciences; Blood pressure; Cardiac arrhythmia; Cohort Studies; Consciousness; Disease; Drug intoxications. Doping; Drug Overdose; Emergency; Emergency medical care; Emergency Service, Hospital; Female; Glasgow Coma Scale; Hospitalization; Hospitals; Humans; Intensive care medicine; Intubation; Length of Stay; Light; Male; Medical sciences; Mental Disorders; Mental Disorders - drug therapy; Mental Disorders - mortality; Mental Disorders - physiopathology; Overdose; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Psychotropic Drugs; Psychotropic Drugs - poisoning; Pupil Disorders; Pupil Disorders - chemically induced; Pupil Disorders - diagnosis; Pupil Disorders - mortality; Reflex, Abnormal; Reflex, Abnormal - drug effects; Reflex, Abnormal - physiology; Reflex, Pupillary; Reflex, Pupillary - drug effects; Reflex, Pupillary - physiology; Retrospective Studies; Risk Factors; Survival; Treatment Outcome; Intensive care; Overdose; Prognosis; Psychotropic; Overdosing; Resuscitation
• ISSN: 0735-6757; 1532-8171; 1532-8171
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ajem.2009.03.012

The association between abnormal pupil reactivity (abnormal) and the outcome among patients with psychotropic drug overdose (OD) was retrospectively investigated. The study included patients that had experienced an OD between January and December 2007. The subjects were divided into 2 groups, namely, abnormal and normal groups. There were 12 subjects in the abnormal and 74 subjects in the normal group. Glasgow Coma Scale in the abnormal was significantly smaller that that in the normal group. An average quantity of ingested tranquilizer per subject in the abnormal was significantly larger that those in the normal group. However, the duration of admission and survival rates between the two groups were not significantly different. The patients that experienced an OD, who demonstrated abnormal pupil reactivity, tended to have ingested larger amounts of drugs while also demonstrating severe unconsciousness. However, the patients with abnormal pupil reactivity had a favorable outcome.