Prescripción de opioides al alta de un servicio de urgencia

Abstract

Background There is a worrisome increase in opioid prescription worldwide. Their use and overuse may cause adverse outcomes. Aim To determine incidence and characteristics of opioid prescription at discharge at an emergency department (ED). Material and Methods A prospective observational study in a random sample of adult patients attended at an ED of a teaching hospital. We reviewed medical records prescriptions for each patient to collect information about drugs prescribed, reason and medical indication of use (doses and duration). Results A total of 1,001 patients aged 50 ± 20 years (61% women) were studied. Seven percent of patients received an opioid prescription at discharge from the ED, mainly to treat renal and back pain. The dose, duration of treatments or both were incompletely described in 54% of prescriptions. The dose of tramadol in drops was incomplete in 96% of prescriptions. Conclusions Seven percent of patients discharged from an ED received an opioid prescription, mainly to treat non-oncological acute pain. The lack of information detected in the prescriptions affected quality, safety and effectiveness of the treatment, especially when pharmaceutical formulations were drops.

Consideraciones para el uso de tramadol en dolor crónico no oncológico en APS

“…La presentación en gotas tiene una concentración de 100 mg/mL y el número de gotas equivalentes a 1 mL difiere entre marcas. Por lo tanto, al extender la receta es necesario indicar marca, dosis, número de gotas y concentración para evitar errores de prescripción (Martínez et al, 2017) (Tabla 1).…”

“…• Tramadol en gotas: siempre indicar en la receta la marca, número de gotas, dosis en mg y concentración por mL, advirtiendo al paciente que las diferentes marcas no usan gotarios equivalentes (Tabla 1) (Martínez et al, 2017).…”