Faculty of Medicine (Reich), University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC; Faculty of Medicine (Salvo), University of Calgary, Calgary, Alta.; British Columbia Drug and Poison Information Centre (Leong); British Columbia Centre for Disease Control (Wan, Kosatsky), Vancouver, BC
Faculty of Medicine (Reich), University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC; Faculty of Medicine (Salvo), University of Calgary, Calgary, Alta.; British Columbia Drug and Poison Information Centre (Leong); British Columbia Centre for Disease Control (Wan, Kosatsky), Vancouver, BC.
CMAJ Open. 2022 Aug 16;10(3):E755-E761. doi: 10.9778/cmajo.20210252. Print 2022 Jul-Sep.
Kratom, a plant indigenous to Southeast Asia, which has been used both recreationally and in the treatment of pain and opioid dependence, has received little scrutiny in the United States and almost none in Canada. We analyzed calls to the British Columbia poison centre to describe caller-declared exposures to kratom and the acute health effects of these exposures.
For this descriptive analysis, we accessed electronic records, including transcriptions and extracted variables, of calls specifying kratom exposure managed by the BC Drug and Poison Information Centre (DPIC) from 2012 to 2019. We describe changes in case numbers, reasons for exposure, concurrent drug exposures and clinical outcomes over the study period.
We identified 32 cases during the study period. In 23 cases (72%), the DPIC was consulted by a health care worker. Case numbers increased from 0 in 2012 to 9 in 2019. Numbers were highest for males in their 20s ( = 17, 53%). A total of 27 cases (84%) involved ingestion, with online distributors and local stores named as sources of procurement. A concurrent drug exposure was identified in 13 (41%) cases. There were no deaths; in 1 case, the exposed individual was intubated to manage agitation following kratom withdrawal.
We observed a steady increase in kratom-related poison centre calls from 2012 to 2019, especially in young adult males. Rising call numbers may reflect increasing availability of kratom and may be a consequence of BC's opioid crisis, with kratom used by some to lessen symptoms of opioid withdrawal.
原产于东南亚的植物——咔特，被人们消遣性使用，也被用于治疗疼痛和阿片类药物依赖，在美国和加拿大几乎没有受到任何审查。我们分析了不列颠哥伦比亚省中毒中心的来电，以描述来电者宣称接触咔特的情况，以及这些接触的急性健康影响。
在这项描述性分析中，我们访问了不列颠哥伦比亚省毒品和毒物信息中心（DPIC）从 2012 年到 2019 年管理的指定咔特暴露的电子记录，包括抄本和提取变量。我们描述了研究期间病例数量、暴露原因、同时药物暴露和临床结果的变化。
在研究期间，我们确定了 32 例。在 23 例（72%）中，DPIC 由医疗保健工作者咨询。2012 年病例数为 0，2019 年增至 9 例。20 多岁的男性（=17，53%）病例最多。共有 27 例（84%）涉及摄入，在线经销商和当地商店被命名为采购来源。在 13 例（41%）中确定了同时药物暴露。没有死亡病例；在 1 例中，接触者因咔特戒断后出现激越而被插管。
我们观察到 2012 年至 2019 年与咔特相关的中毒中心来电数量稳步增加，尤其是在年轻成年男性中。来电数量的增加可能反映了咔特可用性的增加，也可能是不列颠哥伦比亚省阿片类药物危机的结果，一些人用咔特来减轻阿片类药物戒断症状。
