Unique Cocaine Complication in a Young Adult

Cocaine-induced complications cause a multitude of acute emergencies in the young population, including colonic ischemia. Diligent history retrieval from the patient and urgent diagnostic orders are imperative to correctly diagnosing bowel complications from cocaine use. If colonic ischemia is not recognized in an appropriate manner or treated hastily, fatal sequelae like peritonitis and septic shock can ensue. Medical providers should consider colonic ischemia in any young patient with a recent history of cocaine abuse until proven otherwise. This case report illustrates a 23-year-old female who presented to the emergency department with acute abdominal pain and was found to have a large intestinal perforation caused by recent cocaine use.