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Journal of The Korean Society of Emergency Medicine 2008;19(5): 598-601. |
| A Case of Acute Toxic Encephalopathy due to an Oxycodone Overdose |
| Sun Pyo Kim, Dong Hyeon Lee, Dae Heung Yoon, Seong Jung Kim, Soo Hyung Cho, Nam soo Cho, Byung Chul Kim |
1Department of Emergency Medicine, Chosun University Hospital, Dae Han Surgical Clinic Gwangju, Korea. Chosooh@naver.com
2Dae Han Sergical Clinic, Gwangju, Korea. |
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| ABSTRACT |
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Acute encephalopathies can be defined as an acute central nervous system (CNS) insult, due to an underlying pathology.
The clinical symptoms almost always include an acute state of confusion and cognitive impairment. Toxic encephalopathies can occur acutely or chronically depending on the toxic drugs and other substances as well as the individual metabolism of the drug. The organs acutely affected include the heart, lung and kidneys. However, the brain, spinal cord and sympathetic nerves can be affected chronically. If the toxic substance passes through the bloodbrain barrier into the hypothalamus and the posterior pituitary gland, the result can be diabetes insipidus. If the substance affects the anterior pituitary gland, the result can include hormone dysfunction, impaired immune function and altered cognition or personality. We report a patient that developed acute toxic encephalopathy after the prescribed dose of oxycodone was exceeded. |
| Key words:
Toxic encephalopathy, Oxycodone, Overdose |
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