Incidentalomas revealed by abdominopelvic computed tomography scans performed in body packers.

BACKGROUND: Body packing is the transport of internally concealed narcotic substances. These may take the form of pellets or sachets, ingested or inserted per anus or per vagina. In France, abdominopelvic scanning without contrast-medium injection is used to check the complete evacuation of ingested narcotics. This sometimes leads to the discovery of incident pathologies, also known as "incidentalomas."

OBJECTIVE: Our study described incidentaloma detected by abdominopelvic computed tomography (CT) scanning in body packers. This monocentric prospective study concerned 100 CT scan images from body packers managed in our secure medical unit between September 2009 and April 2010.

RESULTS: Thirty-one incidentalomas were discovered on 18 abdominopelvic CT scans, including 2 women. Ten CT scan examinations revealed 1 suspect image, 5 scans included 5 suspect images, 2 scans included 3 suspect images, and 1 scan included 5 suspects images. Once the complete evacuation of all foreign bodies is confirmed, and in the absence of any surgical or medical emergency, incidentaloma management is entrusted to the prison doctors.