Acute effects and clinical manifestations resulting from the use of electronic cigarettes

Abstract

: Initially developed to assist in the treatment of smoking, Electronic Smoking Devices (ESD), also known as electronic cigarettes, emerged as an alternative theoretically less harmful to health than conventional cigarettes. However, several medical conditions resulting from the popularization of its use have been reported around the world. This review aims to present and discuss the complications and acute effects on human health arising from the use of electronic cigarettes. To this end, a bibliographic search was carried out in the MEDLINE, EMBASE and Web of Science databases, using appropriate descriptors, with the selection of articles published in the period between 2017 and 2021. From the 207 studies initially retrieved from the databases, 20 were selected to compose this work based on pre-established inclusion and exclusion criteria. Current literature describes numerous clinical manifestations associated with the use of DEFs, such as: persistent cough, shortness of breath, epiglottitis, asthma exacerbation, burn injury, trauma, pneumonia, death, among others. In addition, changes arising from the inhalation of e-cigarette vapor in human physiology are also reported, especially in the nervous, cardiac and pulmonary systems. It was found, therefore, that DEFs are not free of risks to human health and, for this reason, their use must be properly regulated by public health managers.