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Opioid Use Disorders and Related Emergencies

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Substance Use and the Acute Psychiatric Patient

Part of the book series: Current Clinical Psychiatry ((CCPSY))

Abstract

Opioid-related overdose (OD) deaths have reached epidemic levels within the last decade. Efforts to prevent, identify, and treat opioid use disorders (OUDs) have focused primarily on the outpatient setting. Despite frequent presentations, less is known about the management of patients with OUDs in the emergency department (ED) setting. The ED can be an entry point into care for individuals battling an OUD; but, unfortunately, no standardized management approaches currently exist. This chapter will review the clinical presentation and assessment of patients with OUDs, management of opioid overdoses and withdrawal, OUD treatment initiation in the ED setting, and overdose education and naloxone prescribing. The challenges and barriers of treating this population in the ED setting will be discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Vinod Rao & E. Nalan Ward

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  1. Vinod Rao
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  2. E. Nalan Ward
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Correspondence to E. Nalan Ward .

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  1. Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

    Abigail L. Donovan

  2. Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

    Suzanne A. Bird

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Rao, V., Ward, E.N. (2019). Opioid Use Disorders and Related Emergencies. In: Donovan, A., Bird, S. (eds) Substance Use and the Acute Psychiatric Patient. Current Clinical Psychiatry. Humana, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-23961-3_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-23961-3_1

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