slide 1:

Opioid Overdose Cases Flooding America’s ICUs Opioid overdoses are not only affecting the American homes but also leading to the overcrowding of intensive care units ICUs of the hospitals across several states in the country. A recent research presented at the American Thoracic Society’s annual meeting in May 2016 revealed that opioid- related admissions in ICUs are steadfastly increasing and opioid overdosed ICU deaths have doubled since 2009. The research by the Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center University of Chicago and Vizient Inc. reported that the increasing opioid admissions are putting a tremendous pressure on the ICUs and caregivers are struggling to meet the continuous treatment demands of the ever- increasing number of patients. The research also highlighted the increasing cases of heroin and prescription drug overdoses over the past couple of years. Looking at the scenario they made a hypothesis that the critical care of patients will surely surge over the next five years and these patients would be at a greater risk in comparison to other critically ill patients. Rise in opioid overdose-related ICU admissions and deaths during 2011-2015 Patient data from Vizient Inc. of 28 million hospital discharges during 2011-2015 were analyzed for the research. The data was available for 272 hospitals including 17.6 million adult admissions of whom 3 million 17 percent required ICU care. Of the total hospital admissions 41369 were patients of opioid overdose. The patients who succumbed to opioid overdoses in the hospitals rose by 64 percent i.e. from 3.1 percent in 2011 to 5.1 percent in 2015. The patients who died in the ICUs increased from 6.4 percent in 2011 to 11.4 percent in 2015. In fact the hospital deaths pertaining to opioid overdose as compared to the overall ICU admissions were almost double. There were 3.7 opioid-related deaths per 10000 ICU admissions in 2011 and 7.3 in 2015 an increase of about 97 percent.

slide 2:

42 increase in opioid-related hospital discharges since 2009 The research also found that there was a 42 percent increase in opioid-related hospital discharges since 2009. Lead investigator Jennifer Stevens M.D. Center for Healthcare Delivery Science at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center said “Pennsylvania and North Carolina have nearly doubled the number of ICU discharges for opioid overdose in the past seven years.” The researchers said that there has been an increase in ICU admissions of patients of opioid overdose in spite of the use of Naloxone which reverses the effects of overdose and availability of intensive treatments. Such patients are 30 percent more likely to be in need of an acute dialysis. In fact they are the main reason for increasing the healthcare costs by 46 percent over the last seven years in the U.S. Addiction management training for clinicians needed The researchers said that hospitals witnessing an increase in opioid-related admissions should provide intensive training for addiction management to the healthcare professionals who are authorized to treat patients. Moreover patient and family-friendly strategies should be developed to support them in the hospital during the transition from an intensive care to outpatient addiction treatment. Co-author Michael Howell M.D. M.P.H. chief quality officer University of Chicago Medicine said “Greater national funding to support community efforts that help survivors and improve resources for patients and families is essential for these efforts to move forward and succeed.” If you or your loved one is suffering from opioid addiction and requires de-addiction support seek Florida drug addiction help immediately. The Florida Drug Addiction Helpline can help you get the best treatment to curb opioid addiction and dependence and lead you to a sober life. Call our 24/7 helpline at 855-982-2401 for more information on addiction-related interventions from Florida drug addiction treatment helpline. For more information please visit www.floridadrugaddictionhelpline.com