heroin and Gastrointestinal-Hemorrhage

Ingested cocaine can be a cause of severe bowel ischemia or gangrene. Two cocaine addicts who ingested large quantities of the drug developed severe abdominal symptoms and signs caused by bowel ischemia. In one patient gangrene of the bowel necessitated repeated resections and was followed, several weeks later, by death. The other patient suffered less severe ischemia and the bowel returned to normal. The diagnosis of bowel ischemia should be suspected whenever a cocaine addict has severe abdominal symptoms and signs. The presence of marked leukocytosis suggests bowel gangrene and demands prompt surgical intervention.

Topics: Adult; Cocaine; Colectomy; Colon; Female; Gangrene; Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage; Heroin; Humans; Ileostomy; Ileum; Intestinal Obstruction; Intestines; Ischemia; Necrosis; Substance-Related Disorders; Suicide, Attempted

Topics: Acute Kidney Injury; Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Endocarditis, Bacterial; Enterobacteriaceae Infections; Female; Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage; Hemiplegia; Heroin; Heroin Dependence; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Prospective Studies; Pseudomonas Infections; Pulmonary Embolism; Respiratory Insufficiency; Splenomegaly; Staphylococcal Infections; Streptococcal Infections; Substance-Related Disorders

Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Burns; Colon; Endotoxins; Female; Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage; Heroin; Humans; Intestinal Obstruction; Ischemia; Kidney Transplantation; Liver Cirrhosis; Liver Diseases; Lung Diseases, Parasitic; Male; Middle Aged; Mononuclear Phagocyte System; Morphine Dependence; Peritonitis; Sepsis; Shock, Septic; Transplantation, Homologous; Urinary Fistula; Urinary Tract Infections