OVERDOSAGE
Signs and Symptoms
Acute overdosage with OPANA is characterized by respiratory depression (a decrease in respiratory rate and/or tidal volume, Cheyne-Stokes respiration, cyanosis), extreme somnolence progressing to stupor or coma, skeletal muscle flaccidity, cold and clammy skin, constricted pupils, and sometimes bradycardia and hypotension. In severe overdosage, apnea, circulatory collapse, cardiac arrest, and death may occur.
OPANA may cause miosis, even in total darkness. Pinpoint pupils are a sign of opioid overdose but are not pathognomonic (e.g., pontine lesions of hemorrhagic or ischemic origin may produce similar findings). Marked mydriasis rather than miosis may be seen with hypoxia in overdose situations (see CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY: Central Nervous System).
Treatment
In the treatment of OPANA overdosage, primary attention should be given to the re-establishment of a patent airway and institution of assisted or controlled ventilation. Supportive measures (including oxygen and vasopressors) should be employed in the management of circulatory shock and pulmonary edema accompanying overdose as indicated. Cardiac arrest or arrhythmias may require cardiac massage or defibrillation. Elimination or evacuation of gastric contents may be necessary in order to eliminate unabsorbed drug. Before attempting treatment by gastric emptying or activated charcoal, care should be taken to secure the airway.
The opioid antagonist naloxone hydrochloride is a specific antidote against respiratory depression, which may result from overdosage or unusual sensitivity to opioids including OPANA. Therefore, an appropriate dose of naloxone hydrochloride should be administered (usual initial adult dose 0.4 mg-2 mg) preferably by the intravenous route and simultaneously with efforts at respiratory resuscitation. Nalmefene is an alternative pure opioid antagonist, which may be administered as a specific antidote to respiratory depression resulting from opioid overdose. Since the duration of action of OPANA may exceed that of the antagonist, the patient should be kept under continued surveillance and repeated doses of the antagonist should be administered according to the antagonist labeling as needed to maintain adequate respiration.
In patients receiving OPANA, opioid antagonists should not be administered in the absence of clinically significant respiratory or circulatory depression. They should be administered cautiously to persons who are known, or suspected to be, physically dependent on any opioid agonist including OPANA. In such cases, an abrupt or complete reversal of opioid effects may precipitate an acute abstinence syndrome. In an individual physically dependent on opioids, administration of the usual dose of the antagonist will precipitate an acute withdrawal syndrome. The severity of the withdrawal syndrome produced will depend on the degree of physical dependence and the dose of the antagonist administered. If respiratory depression is associated with muscular rigidity, administration of a neuromuscular blocking agent may be necessary to facilitate assisted or controlled ventilation. Muscular rigidity may also respond to opioid antagonist therapy.
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CONTRAINDICATIONS
OPANA should not be administered to patients with a known hypersensitivity to oxymorphone hydrochloride or to any of the other ingredients in OPANA, or with known hypersensitivity to morphine analogs such as codeine.
OPANA is contraindicated in patients with respiratory depression except in monitored settings and in the presence of resuscitative equipment and in patients with acute or severe bronchial asthma or hypercarbia. OPANA is contraindicated in any patient who has or is suspected of having paralytic ileus.
OPANA is contraindicated in patients with moderate and severe hepatic impairment (see CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY , PRECAUTIONS and DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION).
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