Japanese Woman Passed Gas During Laser Surgery - Burned by Explosion

Yep, a deadly fart, silent and invisible killer. In this case the "wasn't me" is not gonna work.

The woman, in her 30s, who has not been named, was undergoing a surgery on her cervix at the Tokyo Medical University Hospital in Shinjuku Ward on April 15. In the midst of the operation, while doctors focused a laser on her cervix, the lower part of the uterus, the woman passed gas.
It’s difficult to overstate how minuscule the chance of that normal bodily function causing a problem truly is.
The laser reportedly ignited the gas, causing a blaze that caught the surgical drape on fire before spreading down her skin. It ended up burning much of her body, particularly from her waist and down her legs, according to the English-language version of the Asahi Shimbun. Her current condition is unknown.
An external committee looked into the incident, and the hospital released a report with their findings Oct. 28.
That report stated that the equipment used in the operation did not, at any point, malfunction.
“When the patient’s intestinal gas leaked into the space of the operation [room], it ignited with the irradiation of the laser, and the burning spread, eventually reaching the surgical drape and causing the fire,” the report said.

www.washingtonpost.com...

Poor lady!

Imagine getting knocked out for surgery only to awaken a week later covered in 1st degree burns :O

Well I hope the laser surgery room isn't too close to the colonoscopy room.

Ha...get it?

Poor lady though, but things do happen.

Current condition is unknown? That seems incredibly disturbing.
I hope she's going to be all right.

a reply to: StolidPanda

You sooooo bad.

something isn't right with this story.
I light my farts all time and I have never gone up in flames such as what is being described.
A fart, even a really good one wouldn't burn hot enough to start a raging fire, let alone burn a hole in my polyester underpants.
I'm going with human combustion on this one.

I saw that story Sunday. Surely there must be more to it than just a little methane if you go by the report?

A fart shouldn't have much more potential than the last dregs of a lighter, gone in a moment. There has to be more to it.

Jesus....from bottom of article

On a more serious note, a gassy gut can be fatal, as it was for a patient having a colonic polyp cauterized. An electric spark caused the patient’s bowels to detonate, blasting out the colonoscopy and ripping a six-inch hole in the patient’s large intestine.

Not nice

ok, I guess then if going to have laser work done, have a bunch of probiotic the day before and get things under control...avoid fiber also

She delt it will be she who felt it ...

Yikes!

a reply to: weirdguy
I did not come to that come to that conclusion in the first thread that was trashed earlier today because we were too busy cracking jokes. But I would say that is a possibility. I mean how would her whole body get covered in burns?? Did they just throw the flaming drapes down on her and let it bur for a moment?? It really does not make sense. Is there a conspiracy to cover-up Spontaneous human combustion?? Because I don't hear much of it anymore after y2k. It was something that had me curious as a child in the nineties.

And in fact, on further thought, maybe it is situations and circumstances related to something like this that causes SHC?? This # is wicked.

originally posted by: Mandroid7
On a more serious note, a gassy gut can be fatal, as it was for a patient having a colonic polyp cauterized. An electric spark caused the patient’s bowels to detonate, blasting out the colonoscopy and ripping a six-inch hole in the patient’s large intestine.

HOLY #!!! That is just devastating!

Something about this strikes me as weird. First, I've heard of lighting farts with flame but would a laser do that? I mean it's just light, right? Yes, it can burn things but can it light a fart?

To everyone stating a fart couldn't cause this type of explosion... Remember, this was happening in a hospital, so odds are, there is also oxygen being pumped into the building and perhaps even into the surgery/procedure room.

This is something I only learned about when I had to live in the hospital with my son for several months. Upon our arrival there, they explained to me that although oxygen was not in use in my son's room and actually not in use in the entire wing in which we were staying, it was being pumped into other areas of the building. Therefore, if someone wanted to smoke, going outdoors or even 50 feet from the door was not enough; smoking was not allowed anywhere on the grounds. Smokers had to go stand in the church parking lot across the street. Also, I couldn't even put a coat of polish on my toe nails inside the building...because nail polish is flammable and puts off fumes. Again, sit on the curb next to the church parking lot and paint your toes...

Hospitals are actually really dangerous places when you factor in all the sharp instruments and the possibility of an explosion...

originally posted by: Skid Mark
Something about this strikes me as weird. First, I've heard of lighting farts with flame but would a laser do that? I mean it's just light, right? Yes, it can burn things but can it light a fart?

Too much wasabi can give the extra strength to those nitro-farts.

a reply to: Skid Mark

the medical lasers used in certain procedures [ like this one ] actually cauterise the tissue - basically vaposising a very thin layer - so conventional bladed instruments are not used - just zap the tissue - and use a suction tune to remove the remains

ok - as an ealier thread has vanished - i shall repeat my rant on poor reportage here

the primary source claimed

a committee of outside experts who looked into the case said no flammable materials were in the operation room at the time of the surgery.,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
the burning spread, eventually reaching the surgical drape and causing the fire,”

failure to maintain internal consistency in a single paragraph is

however - i suspect that this is due to piss poor reporting rather than the failings of the actuall expert committee report

thought i would like to read a translate of the experts rwport - just to see what the gas concs were - the LEL for hydrogen and methane are really quite low - this is truely a one in a billion tragedy

source

a reply to: Trueman

Who even thinks of these things?

Nice 30-something Japanese woman: " Doctor: my ankle hurts"
Doc: " Hmmmmm. Yessssss. Ve musht shtick a lasher beam in your wahoo".
Nice 30-something Japanese woman: " Oh! Well, ok... Thanks Dr. Mengele".