title: Acute respiratory distress due to methane inhalation.
abstract: Inhalation of toxic gases can lead to pneumonitis. It has been known that methane gas intoxication causes loss of consciousness or asphyxia. There is, however, a paucity of information about acute pulmonary toxicity from methane gas inhalation. A 21-year-old man was presented with respiratory distress after an accidental exposure to methane gas for one minute. He came in with a drowsy mentality and hypoxemia. Mechanical ventilation was applied immediately. The patient's symptoms and chest radiographic findings were consistent with acute pneumonitis. He recovered spontaneously and was discharged after 5 days without other specific treatment. His pulmonary function test, 4 days after methane gas exposure, revealed a restrictive ventilatory defect. In conclusion, acute pulmonary injury can occur with a restrictive ventilator defect after a short exposure to methane gas. The lung injury was spontaneously resolved without any significant sequela.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Keimyung University Dongsan Medical Center, Keimyung University School of Medicine, Daegu, Korea.
authors.forename: Jun Yeon
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Jo
authors.forename: Yong Sik
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.forename: Jin Wook
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Jae Seok
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Byung Hak
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Rho
authors.forename: Won-Il
authors.initials: WI
authors.lastname: Choi
keywords: Methane; Respiratory Insufficiency; Smoke Inhalation Injury