Journal of neuroimmune pharmacology : the official journal of the Society on NeuroImmune Pharmacology
-
J Neuroimmune Pharmacol · Dec 2008
ReviewOpioids and infections in the intensive care unit should clinicians and patients be concerned?
There is a large body of experimental evidence in research animals and in vitro models that opioids suppress the immune system. If this effect occurs in acute human disease, then patients cared for in Intensive Care Units (ICUs) would be a particularly vulnerable population. ⋯ We review the epidemiology of ICU infections and the pharmacoepidemiology of opioid use in critically ill patients. We critique the limited human research examining the relationship between opioids and infection and make recommendations on designing future clinical studies that could close the knowledge gap about the true hazards of opioid use in hospitalized patients.