Drug Abuse Among Elective Surgeries: an Observational Study.

Incidence of Drug Abuse at the Cairo University Teaching Hospital Among Patients Who Underwent Elective Surgeries

Drug abusers and addicts form a challenge to the anesthetist because of the added potential risks involved in the administration of anesthesia to this subset of patients, including potential unforeseen drug-drug interactions. In this study, we aimed at screening all patients scheduled for elective orthopedic or general surgeries at the Cairo University Teaching Hospital during a set period of time for the most commonly abused drugs in Egypt.

All patients included in the study consented to take part in this study. Each patient was asked to answer a questionnaire and submit a urine sample in order to be screened for the most commonly abused drugs in Egypt (hashish, tramadol, benzodiazepine, and morphine). Patients were then followed up both intra and post-operatively. Values of patient vital signs, Richmond Agitation-Sedation Scale (RASS) scores as well as clinical recovery scores (CRS) were all diligently recorded and analyzed.

Inclusion Criteria:

• male or female patients classified as American Society of Anaesthesiology (ASA) I or II patients
• patients between 15 and 60 years of age
• patients scheduled for elective surgery.

Exclusion Criteria:

• emergency surgery
• those with disturbed conscious levels
• history of psychological illness
• who refused to give consent