• Oliver Harris, Krista J Siefried, Angela Chiew, Nazila Jamshidi, Daniel T Chung, Nicholas Moore, Nic IonmhainUnaUClinical Toxicology & Emergency Medicine, Liverpool Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia., Darren M Roberts, Nadine Ezard, and Jonathan Brett.
• St Vincent's Clinical School, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
• Emerg Med Australas. 2024 Aug 1; 36 (4): 604608604-608.

ObjectivesIn overdose, gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) and its precursors can cause decreased levels of consciousness, coma and death. Here, we aim to describe reported exposure to GHB at four EDs in Sydney, New South Wales (NSW), Australia.MethodsWe searched the ED databases of four Sydney metropolitan hospitals for presentations relating to GHB exposure between 2012 and 2021. We calculated annual number of presentations stratified by hospital, age, sex, mode of arrival and triage category.ResultsA total of 3510 GHB-related presentations to ED were recorded across the four hospitals. Data for all hospitals were only available from 2015 onwards and between 2015 and 2021; there was a 114% increase in annual presentations (from 228 to 487). Males represented 68.7% of all presentations and the median age was 31 years (range 16-74 years). There was an increase in the proportion of female presentations between 2012 and 2021 (from 27.9% to 37.9%) along with the severity of presentation over the same period, with the proportion of presentations with a triage category 1 increasing from 19.7% to 34.5%.ConclusionsIncreases in recorded absolute number and severity of GHB-related presentations to Sydney EDs are a major public health concern. There may also be shifts in the demographics of those with GHB-related presentations. Renewed efforts are required to understand the drivers of these increases to optimally target harm reduction approaches.© 2024 The Authors. Emergency Medicine Australasia published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Australasian College for Emergency Medicine.

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