Abstract

GUERRERO, Yudith; OMANA, Betty  and  RODRIGUEZ-ACOSTA, Alexis. About a case of intoxication by the use of the loofah sponge or tusa (Luffa cylíndrica) in Venezuela. AVFT [online]. 2015, vol.34, n.4, pp.58-61. ISSN 0798-0264.

Objective: In some regions of the world, the plants are important clinical problems, causing great morbidity and mortality, mainly after the non intentional intoxications. In this work an intoxication case is described, by the topic use of an extract of the scouring pad plant (Luffa cylindrica), when it was badly used as nasal medication to treat a chronic sinusitis. Methods: In this case, the description of the used plant allowed to identify the Cucurbitaceous family and the involved species (Luffa cylindrica). The clinical analysis allowed evidencing an acute severe case with respiratory obstruction. Results: In this work an intoxication case is described, by the topic use of an extract of the scouring pad plant (Luffa cylindrica), when it was used as nasal medication to treat a chronic sinusitis. Four hours after the instillation, the patient presented, dysphonia, with an intense uvula edema. He was confused, with headache, as well as a severe odynophagia and breathing difficulty. Conclusion: The revision of the literature, allowed us to propose that it is the first described case of this unusual intoxication. The patient was treated with oxygen, hydrocortisone, chlorpheniramine and adrenaline (SOS). He recovered after 48 h of symptomatic treatment.

Keywords : uvula; edema; loofah sponge; Luffa cylíndrica; odynophagia; toxic plants; sinusitis; tusa.

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