Lung Injury Associated With the Use of Electronic Cigarettes

INTRODUCTION:In recent years, electronic cigarettes have been used as an alternative to smoking cessation or as a substitute for conventional cigarettes.However, according to the World Health Organization, there is no scientific proof of the benefits of these practices.Electronic cigarettes are known as e-cigarettes/ecigarettes or Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS), and users are popularly called vapers.They consist of a nozzle; a vaporizer or inhaler, where the user sucks in the vapor; a cartridge or atomizer, where the liquid is stored and evaporated through the rechargeable lithium battery activation mechanism; by a microelectric circuit or indicator light, activated.METHODOLOGY: This is a literature review, of a narrative type, which aims to describe lung injuries associated with the use of electronic cigarettes, from a theoretical point of view, through materials that have already been published on the topic in question, through analysis and interpretation of literature.The inclusion criteria were: articles in Portuguese and English; published between 2018 and 2024 and which addressed the themes proposed for this research, review-type studies made available in full.The exclusion criteria were: duplicate articles, available in abstract form, which did not directly address the proposal studied and which did not meet the other inclusion criteria.RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Most EVALI patients present with respiratory symptoms, including cough, chest pain, shortness of breath, and hemoptysis (Layden, JE ET AL 2020), as well as gastrointestinal symptoms, such as abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea; gastrointestinal symptoms may precede respiratory symptoms in some patients (Salzman, GA ET AL 2019).Additional common symptoms include unexplained weight loss, headache, and fatigue (Layden, JE ET AL 2020), and more generally, EVALI patients are often admitted with tachycardia, tachypnea, fever, and hypoxemia (Winnicka, L, and Shenoy, MA 2020).FINAL CONSIDERATIONS: As we have seen, electronic cigarettes constitute an obstacle to smoking cessation, as they encourage the renormalization of the smoking habit and cause damage to health.The evidence on such long-term harm is still inconclusive.However, the losses already reported are similar to those caused by traditional cigarettes.