Publications by authors named "Skulberg A"

Aims: To measure all-cause mortality risk after an ambulance-attended non-fatal opioid overdose and associations with number of days following attendance, and individual and clinical characteristics.

Design: A prospective observational study.

Setting: Oslo, Norway.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Aims: A high number of alcohol units required to feel a subjective effect of alcohol predicts future alcohol use disorders (AUDs). The subjective response to alcohol can be measured using the validated retrospective self-rated effects of alcohol (SRE) questionnaire. Few studies have investigated the specific relationship between SRE and blood alcohol concentration (BAC) in an experimental setting.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The role of blood phosphate in alcohol metabolism has not been studied. In this explorative experimental study, the relationship between blood phosphate levels and metabolism of alcohol was investigated. Twenty young male volunteers were given alcohol relative to body weight to make them reach a theoretical blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: In March 2020, WHO announced the COVID-19 a pandemic and a major global public health emergency. Mortality from COVID-19 is rapidly increasing globally, with acute respiratory failure as the predominant cause of death. Many patients experience severe hypoxia and life-threatening respiratory failure often requiring mechanical ventilation.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • - The study aimed to assess the effectiveness of intranasal naloxone versus intramuscular naloxone in reversing opioid overdoses in pre-hospital settings in Norway, involving 201 participants who met specific criteria for inclusion.
  • - Results showed that 97.2% of patients receiving intramuscular naloxone restored breathing within 10 minutes, compared to 79.6% with intranasal naloxone, indicating intramuscular was more effective.
  • - While both methods showed similar adverse reactions, the intranasal group had a higher need for additional naloxone doses and fewer drug withdrawal symptoms, leading to the conclusion that intranasal naloxone is less effective for immediate respiratory restoration in overdoses.*
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Survival after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is poor and dependent on high-quality cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta (REBOA) may be advantageous in non-traumatic OHCA due to the potential benefit of redistributing the cardiac output to organs proximal to the aortic occlusion. This theory is supported by data from both preclinical studies and human case reports.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: Remifentanil has been shown to increase the bioavailability of nasally administered naloxone. The aim of this study was to explore the nature of this observation.

Methods: We analysed samples from three pharmacokinetic studies to determine the serum concentrations of naloxone-3-glucuronide (N3G), the main metabolite of naloxone, with or without exposure to remifentanil.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Intranasal (IN) naloxone is widely used to treat opioid overdoses. The advantage of nasal administration compared with injection lies in its suitability for administration by lay people as it is needless. Approved formulations of nasal naloxone with bioavailability of approximately 50% have only undergone trials in healthy volunteers, while off-label nasal sprays with low bioavailability have been studied in patients.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Amidst the ongoing opioid crisis there are debates regarding the optimal route of administration and dosages of naloxone. This applies both for lay people administration and emergency medical services, and in the development of new naloxone products. We examined the characteristics of naloxone administration, including predictors of dosages and multiple doses during patient treatment by emergency medical service staff in order to enlighten this debate.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Bystander administration with naloxone nasal spray can prevent deaths from opioid overdose. To achieve optimal nasal absorption of naloxone, the spray must be administered at low volume with high concentration of the drug. The study aimed to investigate the bioavailability and absorption pattern for a new naloxone nasal spray.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: Pharmacodynamic studies of naloxone require opioid agonism. Steady state condition may be achieved by remifentanil TCI (target controlled infusion). Opioid agonism can be measured by pupillometry.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

: Although the United States and numerous other countries are amidst an opioid overdose crisis, access to safe injection facilities remains limited. We used prospective data from ambulance journals in Oslo, Norway, to describe the patterns, severity, and outcomes of opioid overdoses and compared these characteristics among various overdose locations. We also examined what role a safe injection facility may have had on these overdoses.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: This study aimed to develop a model for pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic studies of naloxone antagonism under steady-state opioid agonism and to compare a high-concentration/low-volume intranasal naloxone formulation 8 mg/ml to intramuscular 0.8 mg.

Methods: Two-way crossover in 12 healthy volunteers receiving naloxone while receiving remifentanil by a target-controlled infusion for 102 min.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: Nasal naloxone is wanted for bystander administration in opioid overdose and as a needle-free alternative for emergency medical personnel. Epidemiologic studies have indicated a therapeutic effect of bystander administration of low-concentration/high-volume formulations. The objective for this study was to describe the nasal pharmacokinetics of a new high-concentration/low-volume nasal formulation of naloxone.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Alcohol is a known modulator of the innate immune system. Owing to the absence of human studies, alcohol's effect on circulating cytokine profile remains unclear. We investigated the effect of acute high dose alcohol consumption on systemic cytokine release.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Well-established tuberculosis screening units in Western Europe were selectively sampled. Three screening units in Norway, two in the UK, one in the Netherlands and one in Switzerland were evaluated. The aim of this study was to describe a range of service models used at a number of individual tuberculosis units for the screening of new entrants into Europe.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

In order to study the factors related to complement activation, the complement activation products C3bc and TCC were measured in plasma at admittance and during the stay in the intensive care unit in 108 consecutive patients with multiple injuries. These patients were admitted to the surgical department during a 4-month period. Complement activation occurred immediately after the trauma and correlated strongly with the Injury Severity Score and was inversely correlated to the Base Excess.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF