Cocaine-Filled Capsule Detected After Firearm Injury: A Case Report

Emergency departments are facing an increasing number of drug-related health problems with difficult medicolegal and social consequences. A 25-year-old male with no past medical history arrived to our emergency department. He was brought to the emergency room of our hospital by the security forces, as he suffered a gunshot wound while traveling to a place. Cocaine-filled capsule was seen on plain abdominal film. The plain abdominal film is the most commonly used radiological tool to detect 2-8 cm drug-filled packages within the gastrointestinal tract of body packers. In a study that analyzed the role of drugs in firearm deaths in New York between 1990 and 1998, more than half of firearm deaths had positive drug toxicology. Physicians working in the emergency unit should be prepared for secondary diagnoses. In addition, different examination and imaging findings should be kept in mind in suspicious cases.