In addition to the well-known toxicological harms of intravenous drug (IVD) use, there can also be local tissue complications, including infections, venous sclerosis, tissue necrosis, and drug needle fragment retentions. Drug needle fragments in subcutaneous tissue may cause local symptoms (usually pain and infections), but they have also been identified as causing emboli to organs. The literature has described numerous case reports of people who inject drugs (PWIDs) and have retained needle fragments. The prevalence of the condition is not known, and the researchers therefore aim to perform the first cross-sectional study of PWIDs to estimate how common needle fragment retentions are and what their risk factors are in this population.
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Prevalence of needle fragment retentions among intravenous drug users.
Timeframe: An average of 2 years.
Risk factors for needle fragment retentions in a cross-sectional design
Timeframe: An average of 2 years.
The proportion of patients with surgically removed needle fragment retentions at five years of follow-up.
Timeframe: Up to 5 years.