The injection of opioids could lead to a substantial increase in bacterial heart infections

An investigation into people infusing drugs has revealed a critical increase in the risk of infectious endocarditis, a true heart envelope disease, potentially linked to increased use of the hydromorphone, an opioid .

Dr. Matthew Weir, lead author, badociate researcher at the Lawson Health Research Institute, said, "We have seen a substantial increase in the risk of infective endocarditis among injection drug users, which is badociated with the increasing share of hydromorphone in the prescription opioid market ".

Scientists have observed in Ontario data on drug addicts from health administrative databases in ICES between April 2006 and September 2015. There were 60,529 hospital admissions of injecting drug users. and 733 of them had infectious endocarditis related to drug injection.

Despite the fact that drug-infusion consumer badertion rates were stable over the review period, the risk of infective endocarditis increased from 13.4 similar confirmations (last quarter of 2011) to 35.1 admissions at regular intervals in the ensuing period.

Although the number of opioid prescriptions attributed to oxycodone controlled-release declined rapidly after its expulsion from the market by its manufacturer in the last quarter of 2011, hydromorphone-based drugs have increased by 16% since the beginning of the survey to 53% at the end of the survey.

Analysts were expecting the development of infectious endocarditis to develop when oxycodone controlled-release is expelled from the Canadian market; in any case, they found that the climb had begun before the withdrawal.

Co-author Michael Silverman, Lawson's Associate Scientist and Associate Professor at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, said, "While our observations do not support our hypothesis that the loss of controlled release oxycodone increased blood pressure." 39; use of hydromorphone, it reinforces our suspicions. hydromorphone may play a role in the increasing risk of infectious endocarditis. "

"The increased risk of infectious endocarditis is consistent with the findings of other studies, but the observed timing for this increase was new."

"The increase of this serious complication related to injecting drug use and the possible badociation with hydromorphone require further study."

The results are published in the Journal of the Canadian Medical Association.