A Case of Kratom Use: Implications for Managing Addiction and Addressing Comorbidity in Overdose Survivors, and for the Education of Clinicians Who Are Not Addiction Specialists

As overdose mortality rises, overdose morbidity – complications seen as a result of overdose events – is rising too. Although comorbidity is often thought of as psychiatric or psychological, a case report of compartment syndrome, rhabdomyolysis, and acute renal insufficiency in a patient with loss of consciousness for 6 hours after smoking Kratom highlights medical comorbidity. The case is a reminder that a broad range of medical comorbidities can occur in patients with overdose and with unhealthy substance use. Patients with these comorbidities will often be cared for by clinicians who are not addiction specialists, who will need to have sufficient training to recognize and address them.