An Investigation of the Clinical Signs, and Frequency of Street Drug Poisoning in Patients Referred to Razi Hospital of Ahvaz City, 2008-2013

Background: Drug abuse is one of the major socio-medical problems of our time with a global scope. Abusing street drugs is on the rise among adults and is considered as a public health concern. In addition, limited studies are available in this regard. The aim of this study was to investigate the frequency of street drug poisoning in the Razi Hospital of Ahvaz in Iran during 2008-2013. Methods: This is an epidemiological cross-sectional study based on hospital information. All admitted cases with street drug poisoning were included during 2008 to 2013 (70 patients). Data were analyzed by SPSS software using descriptive statistics and Chi-square. Results: In the current study, out of 70 cases aged 13-53 years old, the highest frequency of abusers was related to 30 years of age, and male/female ratio was 4 to 1. Among the drugs used, methamphetamine accounted for the highest rate. In this study, 55.7% of the cases needed to be admitted to the intensive care unit and 2 deaths were observed. The most common symptom among poisoned patients includes loss of consciousness and the least common symptom is respiratory distress. Conclusion: According to the results, it can be concluded that the poisoning will be rarely fatal in case of dangerous exposure, if they are under supervision of emergency medical attentions, including the careful management of airways and respiratory failure, hypotension monitoring, seizure and impaired management of body temperature.