Treatment of PE in Intravenous Drug Abusers
- Management of pulmonary embolus in intravenous drug addicts is often difficult due to their chaotic lifestyles
- Oral anticoagulants are rarely prescribed due to the risk of non-compliance with medication or monitoring
- Patients who continue to inject into large veins also present a persistent bleeding risk
- Most drug users are managed with low molecular weight heparin, usually for 3 to 6 months
- Consideration should be given to co administration of antibiotics given that PE in this group is often associated with sepsis.