JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Effect of Paroxetine or Quetiapine Combined With Oxycodone vs Oxycodone Alone on Ventilation During Hypercapnia: A Randomized Clinical Trial.
Opioids can cause severe respiratory depression by suppressing feedback mechanisms that increase ventilation in response to hypercapnia. Following the addition of boxed warnings to benzodiazepine and opioid products about increased respiratory depression risk with simultaneous use, the US Food and Drug Administration evaluated whether other drugs that might be used in place of benzodiazepines may cause similar effects. ⋯ In this preliminary study involving healthy participants, paroxetine combined with oxycodone, compared with oxycodone alone, significantly decreased the ventilatory response to hypercapnia on days 1 and 5, whereas quetiapine combined with oxycodone did not cause such an effect. Additional investigation is needed to characterize the effects after longer-term treatment and to determine the clinical relevance of these findings.