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Workshop: The Emerging Threat of Xylazine: Substance Use and Wound Care Basics
Abstract

Opioid use disorder, along with injection drug use (IDU) and its associated complications, have developed into an urgent, nationwide public health crisis. Wounds and skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs) are common complications of IDU that disproportionately affect people who inject drugs (PWID) and are a major source of morbidity and mortality for this population. More recently, there has been a steep increase reported in the prevalence of xylazine detected in post-mortem toxicology tests among fatal overdose victims and fentanyl screen-positive urine samples. The emergence of xylazine adds novel health risks. In addition to the manner in which it complicates risk for overdose, chronic use of xylazine can progress vasoconstriction and skin oxygenation deficit, leading to SSTIs, including abscesses, skin ulceration, and cellulitis. Such complications have been documented over various body parts irrespective of the injection site. Providing early wound care intervention can reduce morbidity and mortality and related health care costs by reducing the number of SSTIs and injection-related wounds that require hospital admission. This workshop will provide an opportunity to further your knowledge and experience regarding wound care intervention for persons who use drugs (PWUD). This includes an overview of best practices for screening and identifying wounds, as well as best practice recommendations for basic wound care intervention that could be administered by non-medically trained personnel in the context of routine outreach. Participants will have the opportunity to practice basic wound care intervention with certified wound care nurse specialists.

Learning Objectives
  • Understand the unique risks of xylazine pertaining to soft skin tissue infections (SSTIs)
  • Differentiate between healthy wounds and wounds that require medical intervention
  • Demonstrate basic wound care proficiency using supplies from a wound care kit
Keywords / Topics
  • Xylazine
  • Wound Care
  • Substance Use
Presenters
Michael Chaple, PhD, Chairperson



Michael Chaple, Ph.D, is an Assistant Professor at Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC). Dr. Chaple directs several large-scale training and technical assistance (T/TA) initiatives focused on the dissemination of evidence-based practices for substance use disorders. 


Kellie Bryant, NP, Presenter



Dr. Kellie Bryant is currently the Assistant Dean of Clinical Affairs and Simulation and Associate Professor at Columbia school of nursing’s accredited Helene Fuld Health Trust Simulation Center. She is also a consultant for Dr. Uché Blackstock’s Advancing Health Equity company. Dr. Bryant has over 20 years of teaching experience and 15 years of experience in simulation. Throughout her career she has become an expert in the field of simulation through her experience with designing simulation centers and implementing simulation programs for two of the top-rated nursing schools in the country. In her current role she oversees the day-to-day operations and implementation of simulation-based education for all the prelicensure and advance practice nursing students. She is also the medical director of Columbia’s Opioid Overdose Prevention Program which has provided training to over 2,000 individuals. Additional responsibilities include implementing institutional and community-based initiatives that promote diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). 


Fernando Montero, PhD, Presenter



Fernando Montero is Chief T32 Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies at Columbia University. His mixed-methods research studies the public health implications of recent transformations to the street drug supply in the United States, especially the emergence of synthetic sedatives (fentanyl and xylazine) and stimulants (crystal methamphetamine). He focuses particularly on contemporary changes in the risk environment for HIV, HCV, mental health conditions, and fatal overdose among street-based people who use drugs in Philadelphia and the wider Rust Belt region. One of the central questions guiding his current research is why the opioid overdose epidemic is becoming increasingly Black following almost three decades in which it was predominantly white and working class. He is also conducting a long-term ethnographic study of the War on Drugs and militarization in the Afro-Indigenous region of Moskitia on the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua and Honduras. 
Summary
Availability: On-Demand
Cost: FREE
Credit Offered:
1.5 CME Credits
1.5 Other Professionals Credits
Recommended
 
American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry
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