Titre : | Prognosis of cocaine body-packers (2005) |
Titre traduit : | (Pronostic des "mules" qui transportent de la cocaïne) |
Auteurs : | N. DE PROST ; A. LEFEBVRE ; F. QUESTEL ; N. ROCHE ; POURRIAT J. L. ; G. HUCHON ; RABBAT A. |
Type de document : | Article : Périodique |
Dans : | Intensive Care Medicine (Vol.31, n°7, July 2005) |
Article en page(s) : | 955-958 |
Langues: | Anglais |
Discipline : | PAT (Pathologie organique / Organic pathology) |
Mots-clés : |
Thésaurus géographique FRANCEThésaurus mots-clés COCAINE ; TRANSPORT IN CORPORE ; INTOXICATION ; ETUDE RETROSPECTIVE ; URGENCE ; PRISE EN CHARGE ; ENQUETE ; HOSPITALISATION ; EFFET SECONDAIRE |
Résumé : | 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 Hotel-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. |
Domaine : | Drogues illicites / Illicit drugs |
Refs biblio. : | 20 |
Affiliation : | Pneumologie et Réanimation, Hôtel-Dieu, 1 Place du Parvis de Notre-Dame, 75004 Paris, France |
Numéro Toxibase : | 1301742 |
Centre Emetteur : | 13 OFDT |
Cote : | A02827 |
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