Body-Packer

Authors

Keywords:

Body packer, mule

Abstract

It is called body-parker, intracorporeal container or mules to the hidden ingestion of small packages of drugs of abuse such as cocaine or heroin, for illegal transportation, usually from one country to another. It was first described in 1973 by Dietel in a patient with intestinal obstruction who had ingested a condom containing drugs.

 The most common thing is that it presents asymptomatically in 90%, but it may occur that it presents complications (10%) such as obstruction, perforation or toxic complications in the case of rupture of the intraluminal capsule. The effective and usual diagnostic method is simple abdominal radiography (85 - 90% sensitivity and specificity) although ultrasonography and computed tomography can also be used.

A patient who enters an asymptomatic third-level public hospital is brought up for discussion, brought by police officers, upon being found at an airport heading to Europe, detected by the refusal to be examined and nervousness about carrying out the interrogation. It is observed that he goes through all the steps that a person who carries drugs inside (body-packer) normally incurs from the airport where he was apprehended to the emergency hospitalization room, surgical observation, operating room, post-surgical hospitalization room and hospital discharge.

Author Biographies

Dr. Alex Cruz Velasco, Universidad de Guayaquil

Cirujano del área de emergencia Hospital Abel Gilbert Pontón,

Guayaquil – Ecuador.

 

Dr. Pedro Jurado Vásquez , Universidad de Guayaquil

Cirujano del área de emergencia

Hospital Abel Gilbert Pontón, Guayaquil – Ecuador.

References

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Rajbhandari B, Shilpakar O, Thapa S, Singh S. Suspicious Case of a Body packer “Mule” in a Low Resource Country: A Case Report. JNMA J Nepal Med Assoc. 2021 Jul 1;59(238):585–8. https://10.5812/iranjradiol.4757

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Published

2024-03-03

How to Cite

Cruz Velasco, D. A., & Jurado Vásquez , D. P. (2024). Body-Packer. REVISTA DE LA FACULTAD DE CIENCIAS MÉDICAS, 5(1), 46–51. Retrieved from https://revistas.ug.edu.ec/index.php/fcm/article/view/363