Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40546932›Full record

ReviewSAGE open medicine2025

The xylazine-fentanyl nexus: A public health emergency.

Kanwarpreet Singh Sandhu, Siddarth Kumar, Keshav Garg, Kanishk Aggarwal, Mayank Tiwwary, Griffin Perry, Vasu Bansal, Rohit Jain

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in SAGE open medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Review
  3. Adverse maternal and neonatal effects associated with perinatal xylazine exposure: a systematic review.Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2026
    Review
  4. Article
  5. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Kanwarpreet Singh SandhuGovernment Medical College, Amritsar, India.
Siddarth KumarArmed Forces Medical College, Pune, India.
Keshav GargGovernment Medical College, Chandigarh, India.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1995-1626
Kanishk AggarwalDayanand Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana, India.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0005-7518-446X
Mayank TiwwaryKasturba Medical College, Manipal, India.
Griffin PerryPenn State College of Medicine Hershey, PA, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0002-2716-6556
Vasu BansalArmed Forces Medical College, Pune, India.
Rohit JainDepartment of Internal Medicine, Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9101-2351

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The US opioid crisis has rapidly escalated over the past 4 decades, with a shifting profile of available substances contributing to rising fatalities. Leading this crisis is illicitly manufactured fentanyl, now increasingly adulterated with xylazine, a veterinary sedative not approved for human use. Despite a greater awareness in recent years regarding the vital role of naloxone in preventing fatal cases of overdose, xylazine has been associated with a sharp increase in overdose-related deaths due to its potent central nervous system effects. Recent data suggest a significant spread of xylazine, underscoring the importance of strategies to counteract fentanyl and implement aggressive supportive care for xylazine-fentanyl toxicity. This combination, often undetectable by standard drug tests, presents challenges in diagnosis and treatment of overdoses. These challenges have become relevant among young adults, a demographic particularly affected, underscoring the need for harm reduction measures and further research into the shifting patterns of fentanyl-related intoxication across the United States.

Indexed as

Alpha-2 agonistdrug addictionillicitly manufactured fentanylpublic health surveillancexylazine mixed fentanyl

Identifiers

PMID40546932
PMCPMC12179442

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.