Hiccup as an uncommon symptom of pneumonia

Terlecka Paulina, Grzywa Celińska Anna, Emeryk Maksymiuk Justyna, Szmygin Milanowska Katarzyna, Milanowski Janusz. Hiccup as an uncommon symptom of pneumonia. Journal of Education, Health and Sport. 2017;7(12):111-117. eISSN 2391-8306. DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1108599 http://ojs.ukw.edu.pl/index.php/johs/article/view/5108 https://pbn.nauka.gov.pl/sedno-webapp/works/840705 The journal has had 7 points in Ministry of Science and Higher Education parametric evaluation. Part B item 1223 (26.01.2017). 1223 Journal of Education, Health and Sport eISSN 2391-8306 7 © The Authors 2017; This article is published with open access at Licensee Open Journal Systems of Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz, Poland Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited. This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted, non commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited. This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted, non commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited. The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this paper. Received: 10.11.2017. Revised: 15.11.2017. Accepted: 12.12.2017. Hiccup as an uncommon symptom of pneumonia Paulina Terlecka1, Anna Grzywa-Celińska1, Justyna Emeryk-Maksymiuk2, Katarzyna Szmygin-Milanowska1, Janusz Milanowski1 1 - Chair and Department of Pneumonology, Oncology and Allergology, Medical University of Lublin, Poland 2 - Chair of Internal Medicine and Department of Internal Medicine in Nursing, Medical University of Lublin, Poland Corresponding author: Paulina Terlecka, MD Chair and Department of Pneumonology, Oncology and Allergology Medical University of Lublin 20-954 Lublin, Poland 8 Jaczewskiego St. phone number: +48817244431 fax number: +48817244823 e-mail: paulina.chwil@gmail.com Abstract Hiccup is a symptom resulting with uncontrolled contractions of the diaphragm and external intercostals muscles with inspiration and with simultaneous sudden closure of the glottis, that produces specific “hic” sound. Depending on the time of duration, hiccup can be classified as acute (up to 48h), chronic (48h to 1 month) and persistent (lasting longer than one month). The exact pathophysiology of this symptom still remains unknown, though it is well known, that short-term episodes of hiccup are mainly caused by oesophagus and stomach diseases (gastric and duodenal ulcers, gastritis, gastro-oesophageal reflux) or alcohol consumption. Other reasons of this phenomenon include the diseases with the stimulation of the vagus nerve or conditions with diaphragm irritation. It can be also psychogenic or resulting from central nervous system diseases. Short term episodes of hiccup happen to every person and do not cause any concern. Chronic hiccups can lead to significant worsening of quality of life including fatigue, nutritional restrictions, dehydration, weight loss, insomnia, respiratory disorders, depression or even suicidal thoughts. We present an interesting case with diagnostic and therapeutic procedures in a 65-year-old smoker, who was hospitalized in our Department because of pneumonia, with persistent hiccup as an additional complaint considerably deteriorating his quality of life. Key words: hiccup, symptom, pneumonia