ACUTE EFFECTS OF NOVEL PSYCHOACTIVE SUBSTANCESIN CLINICAL PRACTICE: A LITERATURE REVIEW

Abstract

Background. Novel psychoactive substances (NPS) present a new drug threat emerged on the
world stage in the middle 2000s. An increasing number of literature data demonstrate the harmful
nature of this class of psychoactive substances.
The aim: the analysis of literature data and the structuring of clinical symptoms caused by particular NPS.
Search strategy. Within the framework of the paper the authors carry our an analysis of 94 Russianand English-language publications describing acute clinical symptoms of NPS intoxication and retrieved
from PubMed, Google Scholar, «e-library» and «CyberLeninka» databases. The search process
covered original full-text articles over the past 10 years, describing the clinical aspects of acute
intoxication of NPS. Literary reviews, information letters and descriptions of the toxicodynamic aspects
of the NPS were excluded from the analysis.
Results. The paper presents the table that structures the most typical toxic effects of particular NPS
and could be useful for clinical practice of drug addiction psychiatrists and toxicologists.
Conclusions: publications on the clinical aspects of acute intoxication of the NIP cover description of cases/
series of cases. A variety of toxic effects is an actual problem for clinicians, since in a number of cases it is
associated with severe multi-organ complications up to fatalities.