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Pulmonary oedema--prehospital treatment. Caution with morphine dosage
1Flinders Medical Centre, Adelaide, SA.
The Medical Journal of Australia
|September 7, 1992
Abstract
Objective:
To inform doctors of potential hazards if opioids are administered in excessive doses to patients with acute pulmonary oedema.
Clinical Features:
Three elderly patients were unresponsive and hypotensive on arrival in the emergency department. All had received morphine parenterally as a component of prehospital treatment for acute pulmonary oedema.
Interventions And Outcome:
All were given naloxone intravenously, regained consciousness and had a rise in blood pressure.
Conclusion:
Parenteral administration of opioids should be used with caution in acute pulmonary oedema. The authors present a protocol for prehospital drug therapy.