Citation

Zimmerman JL. Crit. Care Clin. 2012; 28(4): 517-526.

Affiliation

Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA; Critical Care Division, Department of Medicine, The Methodist Hospital, Suite 1001, 6550 Fannin, Houston, TX 77030, USA. Electronic address: janicez@tmhs.org.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.ccc.2012.07.003

PMID

22998988

Abstract

Cocaine, a natural alkaloid derived from the coca plant, is one of the most commonly abused illicit drugs. Cocaine is commonly abused by inhalation, nasal insufflation, and intravenous injection, resulting in many adverse effects that ensue from local anesthetic, vasoconstrictive, sympathomimetic, psychoactive, and prothrombotic mechanisms. Cocaine can affect all body systems and the clinical presentation may primarily result from organ toxicity. Among the most severe complications are seizures, hemorrhagic and ischemic strokes, myocardial infarction, aortic dissection, rhabdomyolysis, mesenteric ischemia, acute renal injury and multiple organ failure.

Language: en