Diagnosis and treatment of the body packer

Abstract

Introduction: In 2020, some 284 million people used illicit drugs. To transport drugs there are those who use the inside of their body, called body packers, a dangerous practice that imposes challenges when facing them. Objectives: Describe the diagnosis and treatment of body packer. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out at the "Dr. Carlos J. Finlay" Central Military Hospital from January 2021 to October 2023. The population under study consisted of 9 patients diagnosed as body packers who attended the health care center. Variables used: Age groups, sex, skin color, country of origin, clinical manifestations, complications, complementary exams, treatment, capsule evacuation time, number of capsules and substance transported. Results: Among human drug carriers, the highest incidence was in adult, mixed race and Latin American patients. Of these, 77.7 % evolved asymptomatic and without complications. The computed tomography confirmed multiple images in the lumen of the digestive tract and the urine toxicological analysis reported: Cocaine in 100 % of the patients, in addition, among them, one positive for marijuana. The treatment used was conservative: Oral polyethylene glycol, with high effectiveness and average evacuation time of 15 hours; quantity of capsules in the range of 22 to 146. Conclusions: Computed tomography is useful for the diagnosis and monitoring of body packers. Conservative treatment for asymptomatic patients, with multidisciplinary surveillance and the use of polyethylene glycol, is safe and efficient.

Keywords

• body packer
• mulas
• tragador
• transporte intracorporal de contrabando.