Facial petechiae as a complication of diagnostic endoscopy.

We present here the case of a 31-year-old man that developed facial petechiae after unsedated upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. The lesions disappeared completely after 5 days. In English literature, only one patient similar to ours has been reported. The most likely explanation of this condition is a Valsalva maneuver that raised the intrathoracic or abdominal pressure and resulted in a rupture of capillaries in the skin. Endoscopists should therefore be aware of this rare and reversible complication.