The drug-using adolescent as a pediatric patient

The adolescent who uses drugs for pleasure or social reasons differs from the adult in the type of drug used, in the route of administration, and in the resulting medical complications. A group of 1,429 ambulatory and hospitalized adolescent patients, selected in part because of suspected delinquency, used heroin more often than other drugs. Hepatitis was the most frequent complication. Other complications of drug use included secondary amenorrhea, renal failure, eosinophilia, glycosuria, elevated serum alkaline phosphatase levels, and false positive serologic tests.