Pediatr. praxi 2018; 19(6): 337-339 | DOI: 10.36290/ped.2018.066

Dextromethorphan – psychotropic drug in hands of children and adolescents

MUDr. Gabriela Rábová¹, MUDr. Jiří Podlipný, Ph.D.¹, PharmDr. Eliška Lacinová², MUDr. Lucia Kovářová³, doc. MUDr. Jan Vevera, Ph.D.¹

¹ Psychiatrická klinika FN Plzeň a LF UK v Plzni

² Klinika pracovního lékařství, Toxikologické informační středisko, 1. LF UK a VFN, Praha

³ Státní ústav pro kontrolu léčiv, Praha

Dextromethorphan (DXM) is a substance with increasing potential of abuse. Ordinary antitusic medicaments containing DXMused to be available without medical prescription in Czech Republic. Therefore it was easy to obtain and abuse. Since 15th August2018, the availability of monocomponent medicaments containing DXM in solid form changed due to a regulatory measure, whichconsists in the „only on medical prescription“ mode. It means that it cannot be sold over-the-counter anymore. We registered 5cases of DXM abuse in pediatric patients hospitalized in Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital in Pilsen during the first6 months of 2017. We present one case of a serious deliberate intoxication in a child 11 years old in this article. The intoxicationwas with a mixture of substances in this case and DXM in a toxic dose was the most important component. The increasing trendof DXM abuse in pediatric population is further discussed.

Keywords: dextromethorphan, psychotropic effect, abuse, pediatric population, intoxication

Published: December 15, 2018  Show citation