The Canadian journal of hospital pharmacy
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Harms associated with prescription opioids are a major and increasing public health concern. Prescribing of opioids for inpatients may contribute to the problem, especially if primary care practitioners continue opioid therapy that is initiated in hospital. ⋯ Among opioid-naive patients admitted to the internal medicine unit, opioids were prescribed for about 1 in 5 patients, and less than one-third of these patients were continued on opioids at the time of discharge. These results, if replicated elsewhere, suggest that efforts to improve opioid prescribing and reduce attendant harm should be focused primarily on the outpatient setting.
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Previous studies have reported the occurrence of taste and odour disturbances among patients undergoing IV flush with prefilled syringes of 0.9% sodium chloride (normal saline [NS]). These disturbances have been attributed to the leaching of volatile substances into the NS from the plastic of the syringe. To date, there have been no studies comparing the occurrence of taste and odour disturbances with different NS preparations. ⋯ There were significant differences in taste and odour disturbances experienced by patients who underwent IV flush with commercial prefilled NS syringes and freshly prepared NS syringes.