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Drug diversion of Oxycontin in chronic pain syndrome

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 June 2014

Sean O'Domhnaill ,
Declan O'Keeffe  and
Kevin Malone
Sean O'Domhnaill
Affiliation:
St Loman's Hospital, Mullingar, Co Westmeath, Ireland
Declan O'Keeffe
Affiliation:
Pain Management Service Programme
Kevin Malone
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health Research, St Vincent's University Hospital, Dublin 4, Ireland
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Abstrsct

A case is described in which a man with chronic pain syndrome (CPS) presented to a city General hospital in suicidal crisis after referral from a provincial psychiatric unit, having taken an overdose of a variety of medications, precipitated by the absence of his opioid (Oxycontin) analgesia which he had been abusing intra-nasally. This is to our knowledge the first reported case in Europe of drug diversion from oral to intranasal use of Oxycontin, a controlled-release preparation of the synthetic opiate, oxycodone hydrochloride. There is also a dearth of reference to the abuse potential of this agent in the European literature. As sufferers from chronic pain syndrome increase in number, and opiate prescription rates worldwide are maintained, this case highlights the potential of opiate abuse or dependence and drug diversion emerging as a significant medical problem in CPS patients in Europe.

Keywords

Chronic painoxycodonedepressionsuicidesubstance abuse.
Type
Case Reports
Information
Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine , Volume 23 , Issue 3 , September 2006 , pp. 118 - 120
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2006

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