Opioid overdose

Prognosis

Timely administration of naloxone, and appropriate ventilation prior to antidote, results in complete reversal of the effects of opioid overdose. Provided that patients do not need bolus dosing, the short-term prognosis is excellent. Opioid-tolerant patients who receive larger doses of naloxone and experience withdrawal still have an excellent prognosis, with withdrawal symptoms subsiding in about 1 hour. If the patient suffers significant hypoxia or aspirates gastric contents, complications from these events can result in significant morbidity and mortality.

One longitudinal study in the US found that at 12 months following a non-fatal opioid overdose, patients died at approximately 24 times the rate of the general population.[51]Olfson M, Crystal S, Wall M, et al. Causes of death after nonfatal opioid overdose. JAMA Psychiatry. 2018 Aug 1;75(8):820-7. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/2685326 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29926090?tool=bestpractice.com Cause of death included drug use-associated diseases, HIV, chronic respiratory diseases, viral hepatitis, and suicide.