Clinical outcomes associated with orphenadrine deliberate self-poisoning: a retrospective poisons centre study

Abstract

Introduction

Orphenadrine overdoses can cause antimuscarinic toxicity, respiratory failure, refractory seizures and cardiotoxicity. The dose–toxicity relationship is poorly defined. Orphenadrine is marketed as immediate and sustained release formulations, and it is not known how the formulation impacts on toxicity. We determined the clinical toxicity of orphenadrine in patients referred to a regional poisons centre.

Methods

Retrospective case series of patients in New South Wales with orphenadrine deliberate self-poisoning from January 2016 to April 2022 referred to the New South Wales Poisons Information Centre. Demographics, history of exposure, treatment and outcomes were extracted from clinical databases. Receiver-operating characteristic curves were constructed to determine thresholds predicting toxicity.

Results

Forty-eight patients were identified, with information on clinical outcomes in 46 patients and doses in 41 patients. All patients were older than 12 years. The median orphenadrine dose was 770 mg (range 210–10,000 mg), 59 per cent as the immediate release formulation, and 67 per cent reported coingestants. Doses of sustained release formulations were significantly greater than immediate release formulations, median 2,750 mg versus 595 mg. Common clinical features were drowsiness (59 per cent), sinus tachycardia (37 per cent) and confusion (33 per cent). Three patients had mild hypotension, three were intubated for coma, and two had seizures; no patients suffered ventricular dysrhythmias. All patients survived, with 75 per cent being medically cleared within 24 hours of presentation. A dose–toxicity relationship was observed, but conclusions are limited by the small number of cases with moderate or severe toxicity.

Discussion

All patients survived, and severe cardiac and neurological toxicity were not observed. This contrasts to published case reports noting severe poisoning at similar or lower doses. Formulation may have an impact on outcomes, with lesser toxicity from sustained release products.

Conclusions

Orphenadrine doses up to 10 g were associated with antimuscarinic toxicity and sedation, but not severe cardiotoxicity. More research exploring the effect of dose and formulation on outcomes is required.

Keywords:

• Orphenadrine
• poisoning
• seizure
• toxicity
• dose
• acute

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Jared Brown for searching the Poisons Information Centre Database and providing assistance with accessing some medical records.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Data availability statement

The participants of this study did not give written consent for more detailed data to be shared publicly, so due to the sensitive nature of the research, other supporting data are not available.

Box 1 Predefined data extracted from the clinical database and medical records.

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Additional information

Funding

The authors reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.