Epidemiology and medical management of body‐packers in French Guiana between 2010 and 2015

Journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians Open

Mathieu Nacher¹  Timothee Bonifay¹  Dominique Louvel²  Gerald Egmann³  Vincent About³  Clemence Bonnefoy³  Daniel Jeanbourquin⁴  Karim Hamiche⁵  Agathe Pastre⁵ 

[1] Centre d'Investigation Clinique Antilles Guyane Inserm CIC 1424 French Guiana France;Service Hépato Gastro Entérologie Centre Hospitalier Cayenne French Guiana France;Service d'accueil des urgences Centre Hospitalier Cayenne French Guiana France;Service d'imagerie médicale Centre Hospitalier Cayenne French Guiana France;Unité medico‐judiciaire Centre Hospitalier Cayenne French Guiana France;

关键词: body packer;    body packing;    cocaine;    drug;    French Guiana;    mule;   

DOI  :  10.1002/emp2.12603

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Abstract Background French Guiana is used as a drug trafficking pipeline of cocaine to Europe. The number of arrests for transporting cocaine in corpore has increased exponentially in recent years. Since 2010, Cayenne Hospital's emergency care unit has applied a medical management protocol system for body‐packers. Our objective was to describe the epidemiology of body‐packers and to evaluate medical management. Method A retrospective descriptive study was performed among patients hospitalized in Cayenne Hospital for transporting cocaine in corpore between January 2010 and November 2015. In addition, a qualitative study including interviews of body‐packers imprisoned in Rémire‐Montjoly prison was conducted in April 2016. Result A total of 282 patients were included in the study. The median age was 24 years and the sex ratio M/W was to 4/1. Among them, 3.5% showed signs of severity (9 with pre‐existing condition and 1 with severe form). No surgery or deaths were reported. Ten endoscopies were performed because of the delay in evacuation without complications. Approximately 28% of patients had urinary screening, of which 60.7% were positive. The median length of stay was 1.8 days. Prolonged length of stay was significantly associated with the presence of gastrointestinal symptoms, hypoglycemia, or having swallowed a minimum of 10 pellets. Conclusion This study led to a change in the management of body‐packers in the hospital setting in Guiana. A computed tomography scan at discharge became more prevalent. Endoscopy has emerged as an effective and safe alternative to surgery. Despite the increase in the number of patients treated, it should be noted that there were few complications and no deaths in our cohort.

【 授权许可】

Unknown