‘Opioid epidemic’ in the USA impacting intensive care admissions

An American research team has shed further light on the impact of the current ‘opioid epidemic’ taking place in the USA after analyzing national trends in intensive care unit (ICU) admissions related to opioid overdoses. The study, which took place at the University of Chicago (IL, USA) and Vizient Inc. (TX, USA), was presented at the American Thoracic Society 2016 International Conference (CA, USA), highlighting the urgent need to deal with the demands of opioid overuse within the health system. Patient data from Vinzient Inc., incorporating 28 million hospital discharges throughout a seven year period from 2009, was analyzed by...