[Body-packer & body-stuffer - a medical challenge]

Praxis (Bern 1994). 2010 Apr 28;99(9):533-44. doi: 10.1024/1661-8157/a000103.
[Article in German]

Abstract

Since the seventies, the practice of drug smuggling in the form of body packing has increased in the Western world. The goal of our study was to present an algorithm for the safe management of intracorporal drug transport based on clinical experience and current evidence. The retrospective study, conducted over the past four years in our hospital prison, analyzes and discusses the diagnostic and therapeutic concepts. Thirty-four patients hospitalized 37 times in a 48-month period were included. In 28 patients drug packages were identified. Only two patients suffered from serious complications. The study demonstrates that following a specifically designed management algorithm based on clinical experience and principles of evidence-based medicine can optimize risk management, improve quality assurance and patient safety.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Algorithms
  • Analgesics, Opioid* / poisoning
  • Cocaine* / poisoning
  • Commerce
  • Crime
  • Drug and Narcotic Control
  • Electrocardiography
  • Female
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Foreign Bodies* / complications
  • Foreign Bodies* / diagnostic imaging
  • Gastrointestinal Agents / administration & dosage
  • Gastrointestinal Agents / therapeutic use
  • Hospitalization
  • Humans
  • Lactulose / administration & dosage
  • Lactulose / therapeutic use
  • Laxatives / administration & dosage
  • Laxatives / therapeutic use
  • Length of Stay
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Poisoning / diagnosis
  • Poisoning / therapy
  • Radiography, Abdominal
  • Risk Factors
  • Time Factors
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed
  • Transportation
  • Ultrasonography

Substances

  • Analgesics, Opioid
  • Gastrointestinal Agents
  • Laxatives
  • Lactulose
  • Cocaine