Citation

Tawfik HM, Abd El Wahab MB. Egypt. J. Forensic Sci. Appl. Toxicol. 2020; 20(4): 9-18.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Department of Forensic Medicine and Clinical Toxicology, Kasr-Alainy School of Medicine, Cairo University)

DOI

10.21608/ejfsat.2020.21190.1120

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Tramadol is a synthetic analgesic drug that has been used for acute and chronic pain. It has a potential risk of addiction and overdoses due to its common illegal abuse. The analgesic effect of tramadol is dose dependent and in medical literature no study evaluates its blood concentrations in overdose and its relation to outcome.

OBJECTIVE: the aim of this study was to evaluate the relation between tramadol blood Level and the different severity grade and outcome in tramadol overdose.

METHODolgy: this study included patients admitted to poisoning control centre Ain Shams University hospitals with tramadol overdose from January 2016 to July 2016. All patients subjected to demographic, clinical, and laboratory evaluation including estimation of tramadol blood level at admission.

RESULTS: 91patients included in the study, 67% were due to drug abuse, 39 % of the patients had minor manifestation, 21% had moderate manifestation and 32% had major manifestation. The mortality rate was 8% and all died patients were male and due to abuse. Statistical analysis revealed no relation between tramadol blood Level and severity grade or mortality.

CONCLUSION: we concluded that tramadol blood level is not a marker for evaluation of severity or the outcome of tramadol overdose and no role for assessment of tramadol blood Level in tramadol overdose.

Language: en