Accidental intraarterial injection in drug abuse.

Two cases of accidental intraarterial drug injection with resulting tissue loss are reported and the mechanisms of injury discussed.Although variability in the amount of arterial and tissue damage from case to case and the relatively small number of cases make evaluation of any treatment program difficult, we believe that the use of heparin, intraarterial vasodilating agents and local or systemic fibrinolytic drugs can play important therapeutic roles.