L. Galindo

Something New about Something Old: A 10-Year Follow-Up on Classical and New Psychoactive Tryptamines and Results of Analysis

ABSTRACT New psychoactive tryptamines may be a public health risk since they intend to mimic the hallucinogenic effects of regulated psychoactive drugs. Few studies describe uses and clinical effects of unregulated new psychoactive tryptamines. This study aims (1) to explore the presence of tryptamines classified as NPS among the substances delivered for analysis to a harm-reduction organization; (2) to describe the substances found in the samples after analysis; and (3) to compare analytical results of regulated vs. non-regulated tryptamines. Samples delivered and analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry from 2006 to 2015 were included. A descriptive study of results was conducted. From 25,296 samples that were delivered, 436 were tryptamines; from these 232 (53.21%) were non-regulated. The most delivered non-regulated tryptamine was 4-AcO-DMT. A search of the PubMed database in July 2016 revealed that no studies in humans have ever been carried out with 4-AcO-DMT. Unregulated tryptamines likely contained one unadulterated substance (p ≤ 0.001). The number of samples submitted which contained tryptamines increased during the course of the study, with significant differences in client expectations vs. analysis results between the controlled and uncontrolled groups. There is a need for further research in order to prevent the potential health risks associated with their use.

Patterns of use and toxicity of new para‐halogenated substituted cathinones: 4‐CMC (clephedrone), 4‐CEC (4‐chloroethcatinone) and 4‐BMC (brephedrone)

This paper aims to present results of the analysis of clephedrone (4‐CMC), 4‐chloroethcathinone (4‐CEC), and brephedrone (4‐BMC) on recreational drug markets and a systematic review of all the available information concerning these substances.

The agitated patient; need for mechanical restraint and prevention measures in relation to psychiatric diagnosis

Introduction Psychomotor agitation is a common psychiatric emergency in our environment that can occur in a wide clinical spectrum. Both the agitation itself as the procedures for their control, carry an implicit risk to patient safety and health workers. Objective To describe the prevention measures used in patients requiring mechanical restraint in relation to diagnosis of psychiatric disorders. Material and methods This is a naturalistic descriptive study. Mechanical restraints made in brief psychiatric hospitalization units of “Hospital del Mar” between January of 2013 to March of 2015, were analyzed by diagnosis. Proportions of the prevention intervention performed by nurses in each episode were compared. The groups of prevention interventions done were: “verbal approach”, “environmental measures”, “psychopharmacological intervention”, “observation increase” and “inability for applying any measure because unpredictability”. Results A total of 2986 mechanical restraints were done in brief hospitalization units. Among the results, we find that verbal approach measure was use in 77.23% of patient with personality disorders. Environmental measures were used in 40% of the total of restraints. The most of psychopharmacological intervention was done in alcohol intoxication (50%) and then in psychotic spectrum (42.01%). The inability for applying measures was greater in alcohol intoxication (45.4%). Conclusion Some of the results of this study are interesting and consistent with clinical practice (for example, effectivity of pharmacological intervention in psychosis and bipolar disorders, as well verbal approach in anxiety, etc.), we can predict the usefulness of measures applied to prevent a mechanical restraint. Further research is needed in this topic.