jeronimo
Surgeons confounded by queer queef conflagration launched by laser
Tokyo University Medical Hospital has published a pair of reports explaining an incident that left a woman badly burned after surgery. The reports (PDF 1 and PDF 2) , which we've shoved through an online translate-o-tronic machine, tell the tale of a woman who last April underwent surgery known as a cervical conization. The …
Could it have been methane leaking from the other possible source? I'd imagine that people under anaesthetic do tend to relax.
Other articles on this story blamed conventional intestinal gas, not "vaginal methane." They also note the fire spread to a surgical drape on the patient, which caused the worst of the burns.
(Apologies for using the New York Daily Times as a "reference," but it had the pertinent details.)
Stupid story. The risks of methane leaks during surgery are well known. Two years ago I had my appendix removed rather urgently. On waking I found my right thigh had been shaved (besides other parts). On querying this I was told it was to enable good contact for the earth strap used to stop any risk of static igniting any escaping gas.
Seems to me the most likely cause here is that the hospital failed to take basic safety precautions, and simple fart gas was ignited.
Manolo, I think you are wrong about my appendix operation
There is a comprehensive set of instructions regarding the use of electrosurgery equipment at
http://www.ast.org/uploadedFiles/Main_Site/Content/About_Us/Standard%20Electrosurgery.pdf
and this comment stands out:
"E. The ESU should not be used when the gastrointestinal (GI) tract is
entered, such as during a colon resection. The GI tract contains flammable
gases, such as methane that can be ignited causing a fire if the ESU were
used. "
I think that eliminates the chances of them using electrosurgery on my appendix
However, having said that, the document does highlight a host of electrosurgery risk issues which could have led to the burns in this chinese case. So you may well have highlighted the cause