Skin Lesions in Drug Addicts

    June 1970 in “ The BMJ ”
    Dorothy I. Vollum
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    TLDR Drug addicts often have scars, skin color changes, blocked veins, and bruising, with severe ulcers from barbiturate injections.
    In 1970, Dorothy I. Vollum studied 54 drug addicts, aged 16 to 52, over a 12-month period to investigate skin lesions resulting from drug injections. The study revealed that all addicts had scarring at injection sites, 74% had hyperpigmentation, 59% had palpable thrombosed veins, 28% had bruising, and 7% had current abscesses, although 65% had a history of them. Urticaria was observed in two patients and experimentally reproduced in six, while necrotic ulcerating lesions were associated with intravenous barbiturate injections. Histological examination showed foreign body granulomas and carbon particles in the skin of deceased addicts. The study concluded that scarring, hyperpigmentation, thrombosis, and bruising were prevalent among addicts, with barbiturate injections causing particularly severe ulcerations.
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