Prognosis of cocaine body-packers.
Intensive Care Med
; 31(7): 955-8, 2005 Jul.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-15909167
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
To study the prognosis and complications of cocaine body-packing (concealment of cocaine in the body for transportation between countries).DESIGN:
We retrospectively reviewed the files of all cocaine body-packers hospitalized during a 4-year period in a medico-judiciary emergency unit. Subjects included in the survey were identified from the hospital databases using ICD-10 codes.SETTING:
The Medico-Judiciary Emergency Unit of Hôtel-Dieu university hospital in Paris is a unique medical and surgical emergency unit receiving all patients in legal custody arrested at the two Paris international airports and suspected of body-packing. PATIENTS All the cases of cocaine body-packers (n=581) hospitalized between January 1999 and December 2002 were studied. They had been arrested at Paris airports while arriving from drug-producing countries.RESULTS:
The mean number of carried packets was 70.0+/-20.4 (range 18-150). The mean duration of hospitalization was 5.0+/-1.6 days (range 1-18). No complication occurred in 573 body-packers cases. Eight subjects developed a complication requiring admission to an intensive care unit six acute cocaine intoxications due to packet rupture and two intestinal occlusions. No one died. Surgical treatment was necessary in six cases.CONCLUSIONS:
Good prognosis observed in these body-packers cases is due to the careful monitoring of asymptomatic patients, allowing early detection and treatment of complications. Surgical removal of the packets when complication occurs is warranted.
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Colección:
01-internacional
Banco de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Cocaína
/
Crimen
Tipo de estudio:
Observational_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
/
Screening_studies
Límite:
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
País/Región como asunto:
Europa
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Intensive Care Med
Año:
2005
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Francia