Nefopam Hydrochloride: A Fatal Overdose

Seetohul, L. N., De Paoli, G., Drummond, G. and Maskell, Peter D. (2015) Nefopam Hydrochloride: A Fatal Overdose. Journal of Analytical Toxicology, 39 (6). pp. 486-489. ISSN 0146-4760

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Abstract

Nefopam is a non-opiate analgesic commonly used for the treatment of moderate to severe pain. A case of a 37-year-old male who was found dead in the morning is presented. An autopsy was performed and femoral venous blood, heart blood, urine, and vitreous humor were submitted for toxicological analysis. A general drug screen detected the presence of nefopam, caffeine, nicotine, citalopram, gabapentin, amitriptyline, diazepam and paracetamol in cardiac blood. Nefopam was quantitated by high-performance liquid chromatography with diode-array detection. Nefopam was found at the following concentrations: 13.6 mg/L in unpreserved femoral blood; 14.7 mg/L in preserved (fluoride–oxalate) femoral blood; 21.2 mg/L in unpreserved cardiac blood and 4.5 mg/L in preserved vitreous. Citalopram was present at a concentration of 0.7 mg/L (femoral blood) and 0.9 mg/L (cardiac blood). Ethanol analyzed by headspace gas chromatography (GC–FID) was detected in preserved (fluoride–oxalate) vitreous (14 mg/100 mL) and preserved (fluoride–oxalate) urine 50 mg/100 mL. Death was attributed to atherosclerotic coronary artery disease and therapeutic drug toxicity

Item Type:	Article
Subjects:	R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA1001 Forensic Medicine. Medical jurisprudence. Legal medicine
Schools:	School of Applied Sciences
Related URLs:	Author
Depositing User:	Peter Maskell
Date Deposited:	28 Apr 2015 15:43
Last Modified:	30 Nov 2016 16:06
URI:	http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/id/eprint/24302

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