ABSTRACT
Generally, naloxone may be prescribed for intramuscular, intravenous, or subcutaneous pharmacotherapy. The most rapid onset of action is achieved with intravenous injection. Intravenous injection is recommended for the emergency symptomatic medical management of acute opiate analgesic overdosage. Naloxone exhibits essentially no direct pharmacologic action other than antagonizing the actions of opiate analgesics by competitively blocking the endogenous endorphin receptors in the CNS. This action reverses analgesia and the signs and symptoms of opiate analgesic overdosage, particularly respiratory depression. Although naloxone exhibits essentially no direct pharmacologic action, other than its expected antagonism of opiate analgesics, abrupt reversal of opiate analgesic overdosage may result in nausea, vomiting, sweating, tachycardia, increased blood pressure, tremulousness, and cardiac arrest.
