Outcome of primary spontaneous pneumothorax: Could drug abuse have an effect?

Abstract

Background: The progressively rising issue of drug abuse in Egypt among young adults could affect the outcome of a well known problem encountered in such age group as primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP). Objective: To assess the impact of an oral drug abuse on the outcome of primary spontaneous pneumothorax. Methods: This prospective observational study was conducted on 65 male patients, mean age 25.85 ± 5.08, admitted to the inpatient chest department, Sohag University hospital with primary spontaneous pneumothorax, they were followed during their hospital stay and after hospital discharge for 6 months, in the period from February 2015 to June 2016, after written consent. All participants were subjected to thorough history taking, full clinical examination, chest X-ray and routine laboratory investigation. Toxicological screening for qualitative detection of drugs of abuse was done. Results: Toxicological drug screening revealed positive results in 38.5% of cases. Length of stay was statistically significant longer in relation to smoking status and index which was not the case in estimation of length of stay in relation of drug abuse. Incidence of tuberculosis was significantly more within those patients with positive drug screen (40%) than those with negative screen (12.5%). Our observation is that drug abuse did not significantly affect the recurrence rate in the following 6 months. Conclusion: Increased prevalence of drug abuse in Egypt may change the face of commonly diagnosed respiratory diseases in young adults as PSP.

Keywords

• Primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP)
• Drug abuse