Abstract Background: The progressively rising issue of drug abuse in Egypt among young adults
could affect the outcome of a well known problem encountered in such age group as primary spontaneous
pneumothorax (PSP).
Objective: To assess the impact of an oral drug abuse on the outcome of primary spontaneous
pneumothorax.
Methods: This prospective observational study was conducted on 65 male patients, mean age
25.85 ±5.08, admitted to the inpatient chest department, Sohag University hospital with primary
spontaneous pneumothorax, they were followed during their hospital stay and after hospital discharge
for 6 months, in the period from February 2015 to June 2016, after written consent. All participants
were subjected to thorough history taking, full clinical examination, chest X-ray and
routine laboratory investigation. Toxicological screening for qualitative detection of drugs of abuse
was done.
Results: Toxicological drug screening revealed positive results in 38.5% of cases. Length of stay
was statistically significant longer in relation to smoking status and index which was not the case in
estimation of length of stay in relation of drug abuse. Incidence of tuberculosis was significantly
more within those patients with positive drug screen (40%) than those with negative screen
(12.5%). Our observation is that drug abuse did not significantly affect the recurrence rate in the
following 6 months.