Highlights
- •Vaping is prevalent in the adolescent population.
- •In addition to lung disease, explosion from vaping devices can cause serious physical trauma.
- •We need to work to reduce adolescent vaping.
Abstract
Introduction
Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are handheld, battery-powered vaporizing devices.
It is estimated that more than 25% of youth have used these devices recreationally.
While vaping-associated lung injury is an increasingly recognized risk, little is
known about the risk of traumatic injuries associated with e-cigarette malfunction.
Methods
A multi-institutional retrospective study was performed by querying the electronic
health records at nine children's hospitals. Patients who sustained traumatic injuries
while vaping from January 2016 through December 2019 were identified. Patient demographics,
injury characteristics, and the details of trauma management were reviewed.
Results
15 children sustained traumatic injuries due to e-cigarette explosion. The median
age was 17 y (range 13-18). The median injury severity score was 2 (range 1-5). Three
patients reported that their injury coincided with their first vaping experience.
Ten patients required hospital admission, three of whom required intensive care unit
admission. Admitted patients had a median length of stay of 3 d (range 1-6). The injuries
sustained were: facial burns (6), loss of multiple teeth (5), thigh and groin burns
(5), hand burns (4), ocular burns (4), a radial nerve injury, a facial laceration,
and a mandible fracture. Six children required operative intervention, one of whom
required multiple operations for a severe hand injury.
Conclusions
In addition to vaping-associated lung injury, vaping-associated traumatic injuries
are an emerging and worrisome injury pattern sustained by adolescents in the United
States. This report highlights another means by which e-cigarettes pose an increasing
risk to a vulnerable youth population.
Keywords
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to Journal of Surgical ResearchAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- Youth and Tobacco Use.U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, Atlanta2019 (Available at:)https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/youth_data/tobacco_use/index.htmDate accessed: June 1, 2021
- Counseling patients on the use of electronic cigarettes.Mayo Clin Proc. 2015; 90: 128-134
- Electronic cigarettes: human health effects.Tob Control. 2014; 23: ii36
- Characteristics of a multistate outbreak of lung injury associated with E-cigarette use, or vaping — United States, 2019.Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2019; 68: 860-864
- Burns caused by electronic vaping devices (e-cigarettes): a new classification proposal based on mechanisms.Burns. 2018; 44: 544-548
- Oral trauma and tooth avulsion following explosion of E-cigarette.J Oral Maxillofac Surg. 2016; 74: 1181-1185
- Facial trauma caused by electronic cigarette explosion.Ear Nose Throat J. 2017; 96: 139-142
- Electronic cigarette explosion resulting in a C1 and C2 fracture: a case report.J Emerg Med. 2017; 52: 86-88
- Electronic cigarettes: review of use, content, safety, effects on smokers and potential for harm and benefit.Addiction. 2014; 109: 1801-1810
- Electronic cigarette use and exposure in the pediatric population.JAMA Pediatr. 2015; 169: 177-182
- E-cigarette use among youth and young adults: a report of the surgeon general. Atlanta GA.(Available at:)https://e-cigarettes.surgeongeneral.gov/documents/2016_sgr_full_report_non-508.pdfDate: 2016Date accessed: June 1, 2021
- Thermal injuries from exploding electronic cigarettes.Burns. 2018; 44: 1294-1301
Article info
Publication history
Published online: April 05, 2022
Accepted:
February 14,
2022
Received in revised form:
February 1,
2022
Received:
September 22,
2021
Identification
Copyright
© 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
