Cutaneous Complications of Direct Intra‐arterial Injections in Drug Addicts

Intravenous Abuse of Methylphenidate

“…10 It is also known that daily use of drugs by intravenous injections exposes subjects to local (abscess and cutaneous cellulitis) or general (endocarditis, tetanus, botulism contamination, or human immunodeficiency virus/HCV) infectious complications. 11,12 However, in our 3 cases, there is no inflammatory or ischemic complication to report, and this is probably owing to the systematic use of 10-Hm filter (Sterifilt \ ) for filtering the solution of dissolved Ritalin tablets.…”

Penile and scrotal skin necrosis after injection of crushed buprenorphine tablets

“…However, drug addicts rapidly started to misuse buprenorphine with subcutaneous or intravenous injections [9]. Such misuse may be followed by various cutaneous complications such as abscesses, cellulitis, thrombophlebitis, and necrotizing livedo [2,10]. Our case should serve as a reminder that acute groin and genital-necrotizing ulcers in drug addicts should prompt questioning about potential femoral drug injection.…”

“…All but one of the cases reported have involved men, but women addicts may also use this site for injection. Del Giudice et al reported a similar case of cutaneous necrosis after buprenorphine injection into the pudendal artery in a 25-year-old woman [2]. Other reported complications after groin/genitalia drug injection include ecthyma gangrenosum [4], Fournier's gangrene [3], and penile ulcers [6][7][8].…”

Recognizing Skin Popping Scars: A Complication of Illicit Drug Use

“…Chronic complications include scar formation (as seen in our patient), hyperpigmentation, cutaneous granulomas from contaminants (such as talc), and even necrosis of the digits if vasoconstrictive substances (such as cocaine) are incidentally injected into small arteries (Lopez-Pineiro M, et al: Skin popping scars: A chronic complication of illicit drug use (abstract-AB237) Presented at the 75th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology, Orlando, FL, March 3-7, 2017. doi: 10.1016/j.jaad.2017.04.918) [2, 8]. Moreover, cases have been reported of serum amyloid A amyloidosis in patients with histories of skin popping, which can lead to renal impairment (Table 1) [9-10].…”