Oral and Maxillofacial Injuries Associated With E-Cigarette Explosions: A Systematic Review and Management Guidelines Proposal.

Purpose: E-cigarettes have become increasingly popular devices used to consume nicotine in recent years. There is a growing body of evidence regarding the risk of spontaneous explosion of these devices causing burn and projectile injuries. The primary purpose of this review was to summarize all injuries to the oral and maxillofacial region secondary to explosion of e-cigarettes. The secondary purpose was to propose an initial management algorithm for such injuries based on the findings in the literature. This review also aims to test the hypothesis that e-cigarette explosive injuries to the oral region were associated with an increased risk of intubation and surgery and examine whether any other injury pattern was associated with an increased risk of intubation or surgery.

Methods: A cohort study based on identifying cases in the literature was conducted to summarize injuries to the oral and maxillofacial region and examine the associations between injury types and location and management. A literature search of the major biomedical databases was conducted in September 2022 using terms such as e-cigarette, explosion, blast, trauma, and burn, among others, which yielded 922 studies. Nonclinical studies, review articles, and studies without injuries to the facial region were excluded. Study subjects were recorded for demographics, device characteristics, injury mechanism, injury location, management, and complications. Chi-squared analysis was used to determine if the predictor variables of type of injury (burn or projectile) and its associated location (ocular, facial, or intraoral for burns and facial thirds for projectile) were associated with the outcomes of intubation and surgical management. The collected data were then used as a guide to propose an initial management algorithm for these injuries.

Results: Twenty eight studies, including 20 case reports and 8 case series met the inclusion criteria. A total of 32 explosions of e-cigarettes to 32 patients caused 105 recorded injuries to the facial region. Projectile injuries made up 73.3% (n = 77) of all facial injuries, while burn injuries made up of 26.7% (n = 28). There were 14 (43.8%) patients who suffered both projectile and burn injuries. Burn injuries mostly involved the face (64.3%, n = 18), oral cavity (25%, n = 7), and eye (10.7%, n = 7). The majority (81.8%, n = 63) of projectile injuries occurred in the lower facial third. There were 20 (62.5%) patients who suffered a bone or tooth fracture. Management of injuries involved surgery in 62.5% (n = 20) of patients, which included open reduction and internal fixation of fractures, dental extraction, bone and skin grafts, and ocular surgery. A complication rate of 44.4% (n = 8) was observed across studies that reported on follow-up. There was no statistically significant association between explosive injury to the oral region and intubation or surgical management. There was also no other statistically significant association between any other injury type and location with intubation or surgical management.

Conclusions: E-cigarettes are at risk for spontaneous combustion that can cause serious oral and maxillofacial injuries, particularly to the lower facial third and commonly requiring surgical management. Safety of these devices should be improved through increased user education and regulation.