IMAGES IN EMERGENCY MEDICINE
Uvular oedema caused by intranasal aspiration of undiluted juice of Ecbalium elaterium
Department of Accident and Emergency Medicine, Kyparissia General Hospital, Kyparissia, Greece
Correspondence to:
Dr I Kokkonouzis, Department of Accident and Emergency Medicine, Kyparissia General Hospital, Kyparissia, Greece; pneumo72@yahoo.gr
Accepted 16 January 2008
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
A 22-year-old man was admitted to the emergency department with headache, shortness of breath and sore throat without any previous allergic history. He claimed he had aspirated intranasally an unknown amount of the undiluted juice of the squirting cucumber (Ecbalium elaterium) in order to relieve the symptoms of acute sinusitis one and a half hours before his admission (see fig 1A). After proper treatment, including oxygen administration, 1 g methylprednisolone intravenously and 2 mg subcutaneous epinephrine and 24-h hospitalisation, he was discharged in his normal state of health.
Figure 1 (A) The use of the undiluted juice of the squirting cucumber caused a severe uvular oedema, as this image demonstrates, only one and a half hours later to the 22-year-old patient. (B) The squirting cucumber fruit.
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Ecbalium elaterium is a gherkin-like fruit used from antiquity as a traditional cure for a number of diseases including constipation, rheumatic diseases, sinusitis
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