A Case of Tizanidine Withdrawal Syndrome: Features and Management in the Emergency Department.

Anxiety medications, muscle relaxants, and sleeping pills have the potential to cause complications, side effects, and withdrawal symptoms if not prescribed and managed appropriately. Tizanidine, a short-acting muscle relaxant, acts on central alpha-2-adrenergic receptors to reduce spasticity. However, abrupt withdrawal of tizanidine can lead to symptoms such as hypertension, reflex tachycardia, hypertonicity, and anxiety as a result of high adrenergic activity. Few cases have been reported on tizanidine withdrawal syndrome. Here, we are presenting a rare occurrence of tizanidine withdrawal syndrome in a patient presenting to the emergency department with vomiting, generalized tremor, dysthermia, hypertension, and tachycardia. We discuss the management approach used to stabilize the patient and successfully control the symptoms by reintroducing a low therapeutic dose of tizanidine.

The Association of Hypertension with Increased Mortality Rate During the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Update with Meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: The impact of multiple risk factors on COVID-19 mortality has been previously reported in multiple systematic reviews and meta-analyses. The aim of this review is to provide a comprehensive update on the association between hypertension (HTN) and mortality in patients with COVID-19. METHODS: A systematic review and meta-analysis were performed and followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews (PRISMA) guidelines. A search was achieved using PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane Databases for research publications on hypertension, COVID-19, and mortality published between December 2019 and August 2022. RESULTS: A total of 23 observational studies involving 611,522 patients from 5 countries (China, Korea, the UK, Australia, and the USA) were included in our study. The confirmed number of COVID-19 with HTN cases in each study ranged from 5 to 9964. The mortality ranged from 0.17% to 31% in different studies. Pooled results show that the mortality rate of COVID-19 among the included studies ranges from a minimum of 0.39 (95% CI 0.13-1.12) to a maximum of 5.74 (95% CI 3.77-8.74). Out of the 611,522 patients, 3119 died which resulted in an overall mortality prevalence of 0.5%. Subgroup analyses indicated that patients with COVID-19 who have hypertension and male patients had slightly less risk of mortality than female patients [the percentage of men > 50%; OR 1.33: 95% CI (1.01, 1.76); the percentage of men ≤ 50%: OR 2.26; and 95% CI (1.15, 4.48)]. Meta-regression analysis results also showed a statistically significant association between hypertension and COVID-19 mortality. CONCLUSION: This systematic review and meta-analysis suggest that hypertension may not be the only risk factor associated with the increased mortality rate during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, a combination of other comorbidities and old age appears to increase the risk of mortality from COVID-19. The impact of hypertension on mortality rate among COVID-19 patients.