Introduction and objective:

Cocaine abuse has been linked to pathology in multiple levels, but especially relevant are the ones located in the head and neck area, since one of the most used routes of administration is precisely through the nose (snorted). This paper describes the main clinical manifestations of cocaine use in the otolaryngologic area, and analyses some of the differential diagnoses that must be ruled out.

Method:

A systematic review was conducted via PubMed, Cochrane and Google Schoolar with articles published between 1999 and 2019 using the word «cocaine» together with some other search terms, following the PRISMA criteria for the selection of articles.

Results:

The initial search reduced the articles to 641, from which 63 articles were selected based on their content. In addition to those, another 66 were added from different sources. Finally, 129 articles were included in this systematic review.

Conclusions:

Midline necrosis and septal perforation are the most common manifestations described as due to cocaine abuse. However, this substance can cause many other head and neck lesions, usually difficult to diagnose, especially when the patient denies substance abuse.

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