ICU · Toxicology

Sympathomimetic Poisoning — Cocaine & Amphetamines

Also known as Cocaine toxicity · Amphetamine overdose · Methamphetamine · MDMA · Sympathomimetic toxidrome · Cocaine chest pain · Unopposed alpha

The sympathomimetic poisoning — the cocaine (the reuptake blockade of the dopamine, the noradrenaline and the serotonin; the sodium-channel blockade) and the amphetamines/methamphetamine/MDMA (the catecholamine release). The toxidrome (the mydriasis, the diaphoresis, the tachycardia, the hypertension, the hyperthermia, the agitation). The complications (the cocaine chest pain / the coronary vasospasm, the intracerebral haemorrhage, the seizures, the rhabdomyolysis, the MDMA hyponatraemia). The benzodiazepine first-line, the active cooling, and the avoidance of the pure beta-blocker (the unopposed-alpha problem).