A cocaine body packer with normal abdominal plain radiograms. Value of drug detection in urine and contrast study of the bowel.
Drug packets are usually detected by ordinary abdominal radiographs, which is of major importance in the apprehension and prosecution of drug body packers, but false negatives may occur. We report the case of a cocaine body packer who had used the prograde route and in whom the initial abdominal plain films were normal. The diagnosis of cocaine body packing was assessed by seldom-described complementary methods of detection, including drug detection in the urine and contrast study of the bowel.
Gherardi
R
R
Emergency Forensic Medicine Unit, Paris, France.
Marc
B
B
Alberti
X
X
Baud
F
F
Diamant-Berger
O
O
D000328:Adult; D003042:Cocaine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000652:urine; D003287:Contrast Media; D003415:Crime; D005260:Female; D005547:Foreign Bodies / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006801:Humans; D007422:Intestines / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008297:Male; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011859:Radiography
D003287:Contrast Media; C005618:benzoylecgonine; D003042:Cocaine