Upper Limb Morbidity as a Direct Consequence of Intravenous Drug Abuse

Abstract

The most common injuries from IVDU are infections, and ischaemia. High rates of concurrent medical and psychosocial co-morbidities add further challenges to effective patient care.

Functional Testing Using a Force Motion Capture Device for Hand Surgery Outcome Assessment: A Proof of Concept

“…Most were male [n = 13 (68.4 percent)], white [n = 15 (78.9 percent)], and unemployed [n = 13 (68.4 percent)] (Table 1). Consistent with prior reports, [3][4][5] patients were relatively young (mean age, 36.8 years), often smoked [n = 16 (84.2 percent)], and had psychiatric comorbidities [n = 15 (78.9 percent)] or hepatis C [n = 15 (88.2 percent)]. Heroin was the most commonly injected substance [n = 16 (84.2 percent)].…”

Empiric Antibiotics for Acute Infections of the Hand

“…14,16 Although not as common, a nearly limitless number of additional organisms have been identified in hand infections often associated with special circumstances such as diabetes, intravenous drug abuse, human or animal bites, occupational exposure, and sexual history. [17][18][19][20][21][22] The rising prevalence of community-acquired MRSA infections Methicillin resistance was first described shortly after the introduction of methicillin in the early 1960s, and over the following 3 decades, additional cases of resistance were reported. Generally, these descriptions remained confined only to the hospital setting, or hospital acquired.…”

Hand Surgery and the Crack-Cocaine User. A Case Report

“…The profile of crack users makes it difficult for these individuals to adhere to the treatment. The difficulty presented by our patient to follow medical recommendations during the postoperative period were reported by Buckland et al [12]. They showed high rates of concurrent psychiatric illness, behavioural issues and loss to follow-up, compromise patient care and ability to accurately assess long-term outcomes.…”