Article Text
Summary
MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine) or ‘Ecstasy’ is an illicit drug frequently used by young people at parties and ‘raves’. It is readily available in spite of the fact that it is illegal.1 It is perceived by a lot of young people as being ‘harmless’, but there have been a few high-profile deaths associated with its use.2 Known side effects of MDMA include hyperthermia, rhabdomyolysis, coagulopathy and cardiac arrhythmias.3 Rarer side effects include surgical emphysema and pneumomediastinum, which have been better described with cocaine abuse.4–6 We present a case of bilateral pneumothorax, surgical emphysema and pneumomediastinum in a young man after taking ecstasy.
- drugs misuse (including addiction)
- respiratory medicine
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Footnotes
Contributors NEO, AJ and JB contributed equally to writing the script; YK obtained consent for the images and contributed to writing the case report itself. Both NEO and AJ formatted the manuscript to prepare it for submission.
Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Competing interests None declared.
Patient consent Obtained.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.