Suboxone (buprenorphine/naloxone) is an oral medication used for the treatment of opiate dependence. Because of its mixed properties at the opiate receptors, buprenorphine has a ceiling on its euphoric effects. We report the first case of serotonin syndrome caused by buprenorphine and review other medications implicated in serotonin syndrome. A 54-year-old man on tricyclic antidepressants took an unprescribed dose of buprenorphine/naloxone. He presented to the emergency department with signs and symptoms of severe serotonin syndrome including clonus, agitation, and altered mental status. His agitation was not controlled with benzodiazepines and was electively intubated. At the recommendation of the toxicology service, cyproheptadine, a serotonin receptor antagonist, was administered with improvement in the patient's symptoms. Emergency physicians should be aware of the potential of buprenorphine/naloxone to trigger serotonin syndrome.
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science
8
8%
Agricultural and Biological Sciences
7
7%
Nursing and Health Professions
4
4%
Neuroscience
3
3%
Other
17
16%
Unknown
29
28%
Attention Score in Context
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 11. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 21 February 2025.
All research outputs
#4,467,351
of 34,518,147 outputs
Outputs from American Journal of Emergency Medicine
#1,477
of 7,604 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#16,809
of 135,608 outputs
Outputs of similar age from American Journal of Emergency Medicine
#6
of 27 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 34,518,147 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done well and is in the 87th percentile: it's in the top 25% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 7,604 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 11.2. This one has done well, scoring higher than 80% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 135,608 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done well, scoring higher than 87% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 27 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done well, scoring higher than 77% of its contemporaries.
