E-cigarette Blast Injury: Complex Facial Fractures and Pneumocephalus

• Main Authors: Benjamin Archambeau, Stephanie Young, Carol Lee, Troy Pennington, Christopher Vanderbeek, Dan Miulli, John Culhane, Michael Neeki
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: eScholarship Publishing, University of California 2016-11-01
• Series: Western Journal of Emergency Medicine
• Subjects: e-cigarette; vaping; explosion; pneumocephalus; e-cig; electronic cigarette; smoking; lithium-ion battery; battery; vaporizor; vape; smoke; Arrowhead Regional Medical Center
• Online Access: http://escholarship.org/uc/item/7ch9m65h#page-2
• ISSN: 1936-900X; 1936-9018

Electronic cigarettes (also known as e-cigarettes or e-cigs) are becoming a popular method of recreational nicotine use over recent years. The growth of new brands and devices has been outpacing the FDA’s ability to regulate them. As a result, some of these devices fail without warning, most likely from malfunction of the lithium-ion batteries that are in close proximity to volatile compounds within the device. Failures have occurred during both use and storage of the devices or their components. The subsequent injuries from several of these events, including full thickness burns requiring grafting and blast injuries, have been observed at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, a regional trauma and burn center in southern California. One severe case resulted in several maxillofacial fractures, blurred vision, and pneumocephalus after a device failed catastrophically during use. The patient required close monitoring with serial imaging by neurosurgery in the intensive care unit and multiple procedures by oral maxillofacial surgery to reconstruct his facial bones and soft tissue. Ultimately, the patient recovered with minimal permanent damage, but the potential for further injury or even death was apparent. Cases such as this one are becoming more frequent. It is important to increase awareness of this growing problem for both medical professionals and the general public in order to curb this concerning new trend.