Injection Drug User - Innovation in Nursing Education

injection drug user

A person who gives himself or herself drugs parenterally, usually to attain a euphoric or altered state of consciousness. The practice is rarely aseptic and may result in the spreading of communicable disease or self-injury or death. SYN: people who inject drugs; persons who inject drugs. SEE: illus.

INJECTION DRUG USE

Track marks along the course of a vein in the forearm

injection site reaction

An allergic, histaminic, or traumatic response of the skin and subcutaneous tissues to any substance introduced with a needle.

PATIENT CARE: The injection site should be carefully monitored for redness, swelling, necrosis, or purulence. The size of any injury should be measured and the patient's level of pain assessed. Management may depend on the nature of the introduced substance. In mild cases, topical application of a cold pack may alleviate symptoms. When a reaction occurs at the site of a vesicant injection, e.g., in patients receiving cancer chemotherapy, close monitoring by a physician or the injection of local antidotes may be required. Reactions that result in infection or necrosis may need to be treated with antibiotics or with surgical débridement.

injector

(ĭn-jĕk′tor) A device for making injections.

 jet i. SEE: injection, jet.

 pressure i. A device that delivers a substance to be injected, often controlled by a timing mechanism, at a specified pressure.

injunction

(ĭn-jŭnk′shŭn) [L. injungere, to fasten, join] A court order prohibiting an individual from performing some act or demanding that a person begin to perform some act.

injury

(in′jŭ-rē) [L. injuria, injustice] Blunt or penetrating trauma or damage to a part of the body. SEE: transportation of the injured; table.

SYMPTOMS AND SIGNS: Various symptoms may occur depending on the nature, extent, and severity of the damage. Mild injury produces pain, tissue swelling, redness, and temporary disruption of tissue function. Severe injury may result in irretrievable loss of the function of an organ, massive hemorrhage, or shock.

 acceleration-deceleration i. An injury caused when a rapidly moving body comes to an abrupt halt, causing internal injuries such as whiplash, traumatic brain injury, or damage to the liver, spleen, kidney, bladder, aorta, or other tissues.

 acquired brain i. Structural injury to the brain occurring after childbirth. It includes traumatic brain injury and insults to the brain resulting from strokes, tumors, or neurological diseases such as multiple sclerosis.

 acute ischemic hepatocellular i. Ischemic hepatitis.

 acute kidney i. ABBR: AKI. Acute renal failure.