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Previous Volume 349:2519-2526 December 25, 2003 Number 26 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

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In 1973, two physicians from Toronto admitted a patient in whom a small-bowel obstruction developed 13 days after he had swallowed a condom filled with hashish.¹ The condom was surgically removed, and the first reported "body packer" recovered uneventfully. The transportation of illicit drugs by internal concealment has since evolved into an important means of international cocaine and heroin smuggling, with accounts of body packing reported in virtually every large city in the United States and every country in the developed world.

Body packers may also be called "swallowers," "internal carriers," "couriers," or "mules." The term "body stuffing," occasionally and . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Interactions with Health Care Providers

History Taking

Physical Examination

Diagnostic Testing

Radiographic Evaluation

            Initial Radiographic Studies

            Advanced Radiographic Studies

Urine Toxicology Testing

Management

Symptomatic Heroin Poisoning

Symptomatic Cocaine Poisoning

Symptomatic Poisoning with Other Drugs

Gastrointestinal Obstruction or Perforation

Asymptomatic Patients

Decontamination

Oral Agents

Agents Affecting Gastrointestinal Motility

Endoscopy

Surgery

Confirmation of Gastrointestinal Decontamination

Ethical Issues

Source Information

From the Department of Emergency Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, Bellevue Hospital Center, and the New York City Poison Control Center — both in New York (S.J.T., R.S.H., L.S.N.); and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston (S.J.T.).

Address reprint requests to Dr. Traub at the Division of Toxicology, Department of Emergency Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA 02215, or at straub@bidmc.harvard.edu.

Related Letters:

Body Packing
Dueñas-Laita A., Nogué S., Burillo-Putze G., Traub S. J., Hoffman R. S., Nelson L. S.
Extract | Full Text | PDF  
N Engl J Med 2004; 350:1260-1261, Mar 18, 2004. Correspondence

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Rizkalla, C., Sue, Y.-J., Adam, H. M. (2006). Cocaine.. Pediatr. Rev. 27: 436-438 [Full Text]  
• Chakrabarty, A, Hydros, S, Puliyel, J M (2006). Smuggling contraband drugs using paediatric "body packers". Arch. Dis. Child. 91: 51-51 [Full Text]  
• Clements, E. A., Shaskos, J. B. (2005). Current Controversies in Gastrointestinal Decontamination. Journal of Pharmacy Practice 18: 209-220 [Abstract]  
• Duenas-Laita, A., Nogue, S., Burillo-Putze, G., Traub, S. J., Hoffman, R. S., Nelson, L. S. (2004). Body Packing. NEJM 350: 1260-1261 [Full Text]