When compared with patients who are not injection drug users (IDUs), those who are IDUs and are admitted from the ED for infectious disease-related diagnoses appear to have higher rates of hyponatremia and thrombocytopenia, according to a study. IDUs were also found to have lower rates of leukocystosis when compared with non-IDUs. Rates of skin and soft tissue infection admissions were higher for IDUs, but lengths of stay and mortality rates were similar for both groups. Both IDUs and non-IDUs also had similar rates of positive ED-derived blood cultures.
Source: American Journal of Emergency Medicine, May 2015.
