Empacho: An historical review of popular Chilean childhood disease (1674-2014)

Abstract

«Empacho» (abdominal pain and bloating), «mal de ojo» (evil eye), «los aires» (illnesses said to be caught by catching draughts), «el susto» or «espanto» (fright or panic), are the principal and most well-known popular Latin American illnesses. As regards empacho, the medical, historical and ethnographic information is extensive and detailed, since there documents recording it from the 16th century until recent times (2014), and in the case of Chile since 1674. For this review, 109 source documents from libraries in Chile, including some foreign ones, were consulted. It was found that the illness is known all over the country. It is a digestive system disorder caused by over-eating and the ingestion of products difficult to digest or indigestible, which cause problems in gastrointestinal transit. The most significant clinical data are gastralgia, diarrhoea or constipation, vomiting, fever, and other discomforts. The illness is treated at home, and if necessary, popular specialists are employed, with a visit to a qualified doctor being exceptional. There are many complex and combined treatments, which go from herbal products to ritual elements, not forgetting the so-called «quebradura del empacho». This review summary of empacho in Chile should enable the paediatrician to enter the world of popular knowledge and practices with the aim of improving the care of child patients and their families. It should also lead to the serious and systematic study of this nosological condition that will continue to exist in the future.