title: Medical and psychiatric complications of cocaine abuse with possible points of pharmacological treatment.
abstract: Acute and chronic medical complications of cocaine abuse are dependent on cocaine's route of administration, purity and sterility. There is a predictable sequence of events which occur during cocaine withdrawal. Cocaine can cause or exacerbate psychiatric symptoms indistinguishable from a classical psychiatric disorder. IV and freebase abuse is more likely to precipitate psychiatric symptoms. Systematic medical and psychiatric evaluation in addition to detoxification allows the detection and treatment of relapse-causing conditions. This permits more intelligent treatment decisions. Possible points of pharmacological intervention are discussed and new treatments proposed.
mesh_terms: D000281:Administration, Intranasal; D003042:Cocaine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000506:poisoning; D003645:Death, Sudden / Q000139:chemically induced; D004340:Drug Contamination; D006801:Humans; D007275:Injections, Intravenous; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000150:complications; D013375:Substance Withdrawal Syndrome / Q000188:drug therapy; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy
chemical_list: D003042:Cocaine