Acute and chronic toxicity of ethyl chloride insufflation in two patients

Abstract

Objective: Inhalant abuse has been a source of increasing concern because of its easy accessibility and affordability. Anecdotal reports have previously described ethyl chloride as a potential cause of altered mental state and neurologic symptoms. Its use has been thought to be found most often in adolescents and among men who have sex with men. Common acute symptoms include confusion, dizziness, headache, nausea, and fatigue. We describe two cases of adult patients who presented to one general hospital emergency department with ethyl chloride toxicity. The first presented with acute delirium; the second with a picture of chronic neurological symptomatology. It is important that clinicians become familiar with ethyl chloride intoxication because of its prevalence and potential to present with varying acute and chronic symptomatology.