Calls to the National Poisons Information Service (Cardiff) from 2005 to 2009 involving tramadol, compared with other opioid analgesics, Toxbase© hits and rates of prescribing in England and Wales [Abstract]

Spears, Russell and Thompson, John 2010. Calls to the National Poisons Information Service (Cardiff) from 2005 to 2009 involving tramadol, compared with other opioid analgesics, Toxbase© hits and rates of prescribing in England and Wales [Abstract]. Clinical Toxicology 48 (3) , p. 286. 10.3109/15563651003740240

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Abstract

Objective: To investigate poisoning with opioid analgesics over a six year period using call data from NPIS (Cardiff), comparing results with prescriptions in the community.  Methods:  Records of all enquiries made to NPIS (Cardiff) between January 2004 and October 2009 were reviewed. Calls related to patients involving opioid analgesics were counted. Prescription rates were obtained from Prescription Cost Analysis Data for England1 and Wales2.  Results: Table 1 shows a summary of results. Call figures are given as percentage of total calls involving opioid analgesics. Calls involving tramadol have increased from 11.7% of total opioid analgesics to 18.8% over the six year period. Coproxamol enquiries have decreased from 18.2% to 0.5% and codeine has increased from 36.2% to 50.7%; oxycodone increased from 0.6% to 1.9% and dihydrocodeine decreased from 22.5% to 14.2%. The number of TOXBASE© hits for tramadol increased from 0.66% of total hits to 1.14%. Conclusion: Both NPIS enquiries and prescriptions for coproxamol have fallen since its withdrawal in 2005. No single opioid appears to have been used as a substitute analgesic. There was a marked increase in calls to NPIS (Cardiff) regarding all other opioids including tramadol with the exception of dihydrocodeine which has decreased steadily since 2004. Use and overdose of tramadol should be monitored closely over coming years due to the potential for significant neurological toxicity.  References: 1. Prescription Cost Analysis 2004–2008. NHS Information Centre 2009. 2. Prescriptions Dispensed in the Community, 2000 to 2008 and Prescription Cost Analysis (PCA) Data. Welsh Assembly Government 2009.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Medicine
Subjects:	R Medicine > R Medicine (General)
Additional Information:	2010 International Congress of the European Association of Poisons Centres and Clinical Toxicologists, 11-14 May 2010, Bordeaux, France
Publisher:	Informa Healthcare
ISSN:	0731-3810
Last Modified:	04 Apr 2020 01:22
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/18517

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