Intoxicações humanas por naftalina: revisão integrativa de relatos de casos

Abstract

Introduction: Mothball is a product mainly used for having anti-moth action, which can be easily found on sale in markets. Being easy to acquire and having a very low cost, mothball is widely used in the domestic environment and it is an important cause of intoxication. Objective: Develop an integrative review of the literature of case reports to understand how mothball poisoning in humans occurs. Methodology: Following the steps for the elaboration of an integrative literature review, the inclusion and non-inclusion criteria and the guiding question for the selection of articles were defined. Data were collected from case report studies indexed in the MEDLINE and Scopus databases, and the following keywords were used to search for these studies: “naphthalene AND poisoning”, “paradichlorobenzene AND poisoning” and “camphor AND poisoning”. Results: 22 articles were selected according to the established criteria. Thus, it was possible to outline the main characteristics of intoxications caused by the different active components of mothball. In acute intoxications, mainly due to individual accidents and suicide attempts, it was observed that the substance predominantly involved was naphthalene. In these circumstances, hematological alterations such as methemoglobinemia and severe hemolytic anemia were manifested more frequently, being necessary as a therapeutic procedure, in many cases, the transfusion of packed red blood cells, in addition to other supportive therapeutic approaches. In cases of chronic intoxication, due to the abuse of mothball, there was a predominance of the use of paradichlorobenzene, and neurological alterations were more frequent, with the occurrence of motor problems and leukoencephalopathy, with no specific treatment, only supportive. No cases of intoxication involving camphor were found. Conclusion: With the research done, it was possible to verify the importance of identifying the active constituent of mothball and knowing the circumstances in which intoxications occurred due to exposure to this product. This will certainly enable health professionals to adopt the most appropriate therapeutic approaches for each case, making the outcome the best for the patient.