Goldfrank L R, Hoffman R S
Emergency Medical Services, Bellevue Hospital, New York, New York 10016.
Ann Emerg Med. 1991 Feb;20(2):165-75. doi: 10.1016/s0196-0644(05)81217-x.
Cocaine use and abuse continue to overwhelm urban economic, social, and health care systems. Patients frequently present to the emergency department with life-threatening manifestations of cocaine use, including trauma, acquired immune deficiency syndrome, psychomotor agitation, and cardiovascular collapse. Adequate treatment of the cocaine-intoxicated patient requires a critical understanding of the risk-to-benefit ratios for pharmacologic, toxicologic, and surgical or obstetric interventions. The pharmacologic and physiologic bases for the vascular manifestations of cocaine toxicity and experimental evidence for treatment strategies are reviewed.
