A Cross-Sectional Observational Study on Retained Drug Needle Fragments in People Who Use Intravenous Drugs

In addition to the well-known toxicological harms of intravenous drug (IVD) use, there can also be local tissue complications, including infections, venous sclerosis, tissue necrosis, and drug needle fragment retentions. Drug needle fragments in subcutaneous tissue may cause local symptoms (usually pain and infections), but they have also been identified as causing emboli to organs. The literature has described numerous case reports of people who inject drugs (PWIDs) and have retained needle fragments. The prevalence of the condition is not known, and the researchers therefore aim to perform the first cross-sectional study of PWIDs to estimate how common needle fragment retentions are and what their risk factors are in this population.

NCT Number	NCT05679284
Lead Sponsor	Tampere University Hospital Collaborators: Deaconess Foundation, A-Clinic Foundation
Conditions	Drug Abuse, Intravenous, Substance Dependence, Needle Injury, Soft Tissue Injuries, Foreign Bodies
Enrollment	100 participants
Start Date	2023-05-25
Primary Completion	2027-11-15 (estimated)
Study Completion	2028-11-15 (estimated)
Updated on ClinicalTrials.gov	2023-06-01