What's the reason for the rapid increase for Dantrolene?

In the past, only a small portion were mandatory in regional emergency medical centers

Dantrolene, a muscle relaxant that was supplied in a very small quantity to be designated as an orphan drug, has recently attracted attention in the background as demand has increased in Korea.

 

In the past, it was required to hold only in emergency medical centers in each region, but demand was low.

 

However, there are increasing cases of using this as part of safety marketing for the recent increase in anesthesia.

 

#According to the KSA (Korean Society of Anesthesiologists) on the 28th, demand for an orphan drug, Dantrolene has been increasing recently.

 

Dantrolene is a drug that is mainly used as a muscle relaxant as a muscle vesicle inhibitor.

 

There are two types, oral and injectable.

 

Among these, oral drugs are used for stiffness symptoms of chronic diseases with high severity, such as cerebral palsy, according to the original purpose, but injections are used for malignant hyperthermia, one of the fatal anesthesia side effects.

 

Malignant hyperthermia is a disease in which the body temperature rises rapidly every 5 minutes, and muscle spasticity, respiratory acidosis, and hyperkalemia appear, and the fatality rate reaches 70%.

 

However, in reality, demand was extremely rare because malignant hyperthermia itself was a very rare anesthesia side effect with 4 to 5 cases per 10,000 patients.

 

For this reason, Dantrolene is designated as an orphan drug and can only be supplied through the KOEDC.

 

In particular, it is true that there was only a small amount of inventory in that the expiration date was only one or two years.

 

An official from the KSA said, "It is true that the distribution of Dantrolene injections is complicated and the expiration date is short, so it is true that there was almost no inventory other than the regional center." In fact, as of April, the inventory of Dantrolene injections reported to the KOEDC is only 21 ampules in 8 regional centers nationwide, including Seoul National University Hospital and Kyungpook National University Hospital.

 

There was virtually no more demand for the fact that when the stock was used, it was operated in a form that only the inventory was adjusted through the KOEDC.

 

However, it has been recently reported that the demand for Dantrolene has doubled compared to the previous year.

 

Then, why is there a sudden increase in demand for rare drugs that are consumed only a small number each year?

 

Experts are analyzing this as the demand for primary and secondary medical institutions that have large-scale non-reimbursed procedures such as skin and beauty has increased.

 

In recent years, an anesthesia accident occurs during a surgery or procedure in a medical institution, and negative public opinion is being formed, and thus, there is a case of having Dantrolene as part of marketing.

 

#An official at the KSA said that he knew that some clinics were equipped with Dantrolens to conduct marketing, and that the local clinics may have more than the regional centers.

 

In fact, hospital-grade plastic surgery, dentistry, and dermatology in Gangnam, Seoul are widely promoting the provision of Dantrolene and stressing the safety of anesthesia.

 

It is used as a publicity that a kind of safety device has been created for patients concerned with anesthesia.

 

An official from the KSA said that there are often no problems with anesthesiologists in hospital-level medical institutions.

 

However, some organizations are looking carefully at the fact that some institutions do not have anesthesiologists.

 

He said that most of them are for publicity purposes, and the probability of actually using them is extremely rare, and it would be dangerous to make a fatal heart and liver side effect if they were injected incorrectly.