Early Addiction Care Pathway After Acute Drug Intoxication in Emergency Departments

Starting soon · Not applicable

Conditions studied: Intoxication; Opioid

In brief

Acute intoxication with psychoactive substances represents a major public health issue and a frequent reason for emergency department (ED) visits. Beyond the acute medical management of intoxication, one of the main challenges remains the continuity of addiction care after discharge. Many patients disengage rapidly from follow-up services, leading to recurrent intoxication episodes, repeated ED admissions, and increased morbidity. The IPAIS study (Interventions Précoces en Addictologie dans le cadre des urgences par Intoxications aiguës aux Stupéfiants) is a multicenter, randomized, parallel-group, open-label clinical trial designed to evaluate whether an enhanced early addiction care pathway improves retention in addiction treatment among patients admitted to emergency departments for acute intoxication involving at least one illicit psychoactive substance (excluding isolated alcohol intoxication). All participants will receive an early addiction consultation within 24 to 72 hours following the acute event. In the experimental group, this consultation will be combined with a structured and standardized feedback session on toxicological analysis results and a proactive follow-up strategy including scheduled telephone contacts over a 6-month period. The control group will receive early addiction consultation according to usual care procedures, without the structured feedback and standardized follow-up program implemented in the experimental arm. The primary objective of the study is to determine whether the enhanced intervention improves retention in the addiction care pathway at 6 months after inclusion. Retention is defined as sustained engagement in addiction care, operationalized as at least one addiction-related consultation per month and/or regular telephone-based addiction follow-up over the 6-month period.

Key facts

Study ID: NCT07738835
Run by: Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris
People needed: 266
Starts: 2026-10-15
Expected to finish: 2030-04-15
Last updated by the study team: 2026-07-31

Who can join

Age: 18 and older. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.

You may qualify if…

Patients admitted and/or hospitalized in the emergency department or intensive care unit following acute poisoning must:
Be over 18 years of age
Have consumed at least one identifiable non-alcoholic narcotic, including psychoactive substances detected by standard urine drug screening (dipstick)
Have a history of using at least one non-alcoholic psychoactive substance within the last 30 days
Speak and understand French
Have at least 1 cm of hair
Be covered by a social security scheme (member or dependent)
Be the patient or a relative/close contact/trusted person who has been informed about the study and has given their informed consent (or completed the emergency inclusion procedure)
Have a mobile phone number or email address to be contacted

You may not qualify if…

Acute suicidal crisis requiring priority psychiatric care
Acute alcohol intoxication (after confirmation by urine drug screening in the Emergency Department)
Acute episode related to exclusive opiate use, requiring opiate substitution therapy
Prolonged hospitalization in intensive care or follow-up care due to complications of alcohol intoxication beyond 8 days after the initial addiction assessment
Protected patient: under a valid legal guardianship, curatorship, or conservatorship
Patient requiring involuntary psychiatric hospitalization

Where it is running

Hôpital Saint Antoine — Paris, France
Unité d'Addictologie Hospitalière/ELSA Hôpital Pitié Salpêtrière — Paris, France
Hôpital Tenon — Paris, France
hôpital kremlin Bicêtre — Paris, France

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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