Esophageal Rupture After Ghost Pepper Ingestion.
BACKGROUND
The ghost pepper, or "bhut jolokia," is one of the hottest chili peppers in the world. Ghost peppers have a measured "heat" of > 1,000,000 Scoville heat units (SHU), more than twice the strength of a habanero pepper. To our knowledge, no significant adverse effects of ghost pepper ingestion have been reported.


METHODS
A 47-year-old man presented to the Emergency Department (ED) with severe abdominal and chest pain subsequent to violent retching and vomiting after eating ghost peppers as part of a contest. A subsequent chest x-ray study showed evidence of a left-sided pleural effusion and patchy infiltrates. A computed tomography scan of the abdomen and pelvis showed pneumomediastinum with air around the distal esophagus, suggestive of a spontaneous esophageal perforation and a left-sided pneumothorax. The patient was intubated and taken immediately to the operating room, where he was noted to have a 2.5-cm tear in the distal esophagus, with a mediastinal fluid collection including food debris, as well as a left-sided pneumothorax. The patient was extubated on hospital day 14, and was discharged home with a gastric tube in place on hospital day 23. WHY SHOULD AN EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN BE AWARE OF THIS?: Spontaneous esophageal rupture, Boerhaave syndrome, is a rare condition encountered by emergency physicians, with a high mortality rate. This case serves as an important reminder of a potentially life- threatening surgical emergency initially interpreted as discomfort after a large spicy meal.
Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California - San Francisco, San Francisco, California.
Ann
A
Arens
Department of Emergency Medicine, Alameda County Medical Center/Highland Hospital, Oakland, California.
Leila
L
Ben-Youssef
School of Pharmacy, University of California - San Francisco, San Francisco, California.
Sandra
S
Hayashi
Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California - San Francisco, San Francisco, California.
Craig
C
Smollin
D002212:Capsicum / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004435:Eating; D004939:Esophageal Perforation / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008478:Mediastinal Emphysema / Q000209:etiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D011030:Pneumothorax / Q000209:etiology; D012422:Rupture, Spontaneous / Q000209:etiology; D014839:Vomiting / Q000150:complications*
Boerhaave syndrome; bhut jolokia; esophageal rupture; ghost pepper; pneumomediastinum