Assessment of the management outcomes of body packers.
- Resource Type
- Article
- Authors
- Alfa‐Wali, Maryam; Atinga, Angela; Tanham, Matthew; Iqbal, Qamar; Meng, Aw‐Yong; Mohsen, Yasser
- Source
- ANZ Journal of Surgery. Oct2016, Vol. 86 Issue 10, p821-825. 5p. 1 Color Photograph, 1 Black and White Photograph, 1 Chart, 1 Graph.
- Subject
- *DRUG abuse treatment
*ABDOMINAL surgery
*LAPAROSCOPIC surgery
*HEALTH outcome assessment
*DRUG traffic
*ABDOMINAL radiography
- Language
- ISSN
- 1445-1433
Background The constant need for rapid financial gain drives the international illegal drug industry, which encourages healthy individuals to smuggle drugs through internal concealment. The aim of this study was to evaluate our practice of the management of body packers using a hospital-based protocol in order to validate it. Methods Electronic hospital data were retrospectively reviewed between 2000 and 2013 of all patients that were admitted to Hillingdon Hospital with a history of internal drug concealment. Demographic as well as clinical data including investigations and management were collected. Results One hundred and twenty patients were admitted over the study period to our surgical unit. This included 86 male and 34 female patients with a mean age of 38 (range 19-64) years. Three per cent ( n = 4) underwent surgery for either cocaine toxicity or obstruction. The rest of the patients were managed conservatively with bowel cleansing preparations to encourage the natural passage of drug packages. Conclusion Conservative treatment is safe and effective for drug body packers. We therefore recommend conservative management to be the mainstay for body packers with surgery only being indicated on clinical grounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]