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Trauma and Addiction Medicine

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Textbook of Addiction Treatment: International Perspectives

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Abstract

Injuries represent a major burden of illness across the world, and injuries are disproportionately represented amongst those with concurrent addiction disorders. In this patient population, various behavioral, mental state, social, and clinical factors conspire to increase the risk of injury-related harms, ranging from road crashes due to drink driving to interpersonal violence and self-harm behaviors as a result of acute behavioral disturbance. Trauma-related presentations to the emergency department in drug-affected patients therefore represent some of the most dramatic clinical scenarios in acute medicine. Not only are there injury-related management issues, but also clinical concerns related to drug intoxication and the possibility of withdrawal syndromes masking serious injury. This brief chapter highlights these considerations in this complex group of patients and outlines a structured clinical approach in the emergency department.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Emergency Medicine, Central Clinical School, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Michael Dinh

  2. Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

    Matthew Oliver

  3. Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

    Matthew Oliver

Authors
  1. Michael Dinh
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  2. Matthew Oliver
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michael Dinh .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, Alberta Gambling Research Institute University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

    Nady el-Guebaly

  2. Faculty of Brain Sciences UCL Division of Psychiatry, University College London, London, United Kingdom

    Giuseppe Carrà

  3. Division of Alcoholism & Drug Abuse, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA

    Marc Galanter

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© 2015 Springer-Verlag Italia

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Dinh, M., Oliver, M. (2015). Trauma and Addiction Medicine. In: el-Guebaly, N., Carrà, G., Galanter, M. (eds) Textbook of Addiction Treatment: International Perspectives. Springer, Milano. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-88-470-5322-9_126

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-88-470-5322-9_126

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Milano

  • Print ISBN: 978-88-470-5321-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-88-470-5322-9

  • eBook Packages: MedicineReference Module Medicine

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