An interesting complication of COVID-19: Partial avulsion of the auricle due to prolonged use of a face mask in a psychotic patient

oleh: Sukru Aydin, Emrah Gündüz, Mustafa Akan

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: ANP Publishing 2024-09-01

Deskripsi

COVID-19, which develops as a result of SARS-CoV-2 infection, was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization shortly after its discovery in Mainland China. Social distancing, hygiene and the use of personal protective equipment have been strongly recommended worldwide as COVID-19 spreads through droplets. In Turkey, a mandate was issued on September 8, 2020, requiring individuals to wear face masks in all areas other than their own residences and stating that those who do not comply with the mandate will be subject to various criminal sanctions. In various parts of the world, such practices have aimed to popularize the use of face masks, but detailed information about individuals with special conditions such as children, the elderly, psychiatric patients, and patients with neurodegenerative diseases has not been sufficiently included. We believe that people with psychiatric illness have a special place in this group due to the nature of mental illness. Perceptual impairments in patients with schizophrenia may lead to exaggerated application of recommended precautions. This has raised the issue of whether personal protective equipment may cause undesirable effects as a result of prolonged exposure in these individuals. In this case report, we present a partial auricle avulsion in a patient with schizophrenia who used his mask for a long time without removing it because he was afraid of mandatory face mask use. Our case is one of the few psychiatric cases in the literature in which auricular avulsion due to prolonged face mask use is seen.