Psychiatric Emergencies for Clinicians: Emergency Department Management of Serotonin Syndrome

A 72-year-old woman presents via emergency medical services from her nursing home with agitation, disorientation, and restlessness. She is protecting her airway, and a finger-stick glucose test is normal. Although she is unable to provide much history, staff who are contacted at her skilled nursing facility (SNF) report recent fever, vomiting, and diarrhea for the past 7 hours. The patient is taking 9 regularly dosed medications and various “PRN” medications, including citalopram 40 mg, methylphenidate 10 mg 3 times daily, and tramadol 50 mg every 6 hours as needed.
Source: The Journal of Emergency Medicine - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Source Type: research