Illicit and Non-Illicit Drugs Associated with Motor Car Head Injury in Damietta Governorate From The 1st Of January 2008 to 1st of July 2009 | ||
| Mansoura Journal of Forensic Medicine and Clinical Toxicology | ||
| Article 5, Volume 19, Issue 1, January 2011, Pages 61-72 PDF (2.88 M) | ||
| DOI: 10.21608/mjfmct.2011.55341 | ||
| Authors | ||
| Soliman Soliman1; Foad Eldabaah2; Mostafa A. Mohamed3; Hediah Hindam4 | ||
| 1Departments of Forensic Medicine and Clinical Toxicology, Faculty of Medicine, Al-Azhar University , (New Damietta), Egypt | ||
| 2Department of Forensic Medicine and Clinical Toxicology , Faculty of Medicine, Al-Azhar University , (New Damietta), Egypt | ||
| 3Department of Forensic Medicine and Clinical Toxicology, Faculty of Medicine, Al-Azhar University , (New Damietta) | ||
| 4Department of Neurosurgery, Faculty of Medicine, Al-Azhar University , (New Damietta) | ||
| Abstract | ||
| A motor vehicle accident is a major public health problem with increasing incidence of mortality and morbidity. Psychoactive drugs, such as amphetamine, cocaine and medicinal drugs increase the risk of road traffic injuries (RTIs). The present work studied the relationship between illicit and non-illicit psychoactive drugs administration and head trauma in motor car accidents in Damietta governorate. The study was conducted from the 1st of January 2008 to 1st of July 2009 and involved 80 cases recruited from the Emergency Department of Al-Azhar University Hospital (New Damietta),in addition to 60 cases as a control group among those admitted to the neurosurgery department with no history of RTIs within the past 6 months. Within one hour after arrival to the emergency room,5ml urine and blood samples were drawn in a sodium fluoride (NaF) contained tubes. Then they were kept at 4-8oC for subsequent tests, using radioimmunoassay strips as a preliminary test and a thin layer chromatography (TLC) as a confirmatory tests in the Clinical Toxicology Unit.. Cases and controls were subjected to a standardized questionnaire. Major variables included in the interview were age, sex, smoking, driving behaviors, wearing a protective gear and psychoactive drugs used during the previous month. In each case, all medications administered prior to urine and blood sample collection were recorded. Drug abuse in the present study, was positive in 52 cases (65.0%) of the studied group compared to 14 cases (23.3%) of the control group; in the study group, opiates are the most commonly abused (45.0%) followed by psychoactive drugs (37.5%), then cannabis (20.0%) and benzodiazepine (18.8%), while in the control group, opiates and antihistamines are the most common (8.3% for each one) followed by cannabis and benzodiazepine (5.0% for each one) and there is a significant difference in the use of cough suppressants, cannabis, opiates, benzodiazepine, psychoactive drugs and drugs co-administration in the study group in comparison to the control group. In conclusion, the present study revealed that illicit and non-illicit drug abuse was associated with motor car accidents regardless the type of the victim (driver, occupant or pedestrian), and the most common drugs used were opiates, psychoactive drugs, cannabis and benzodiazepine | ||
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