Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2016/10/31/patients-fart-in-surgery-cau.html
…
5 Likes
Do you smell gas?
6 Likes
Having lit a fart or two in my day, I call BS.
12 Likes
Well, given that I already have to fast before surgery this is going to mean new rules all over the place…
4 Likes
No baked beans for at least two days before.
5 Likes
Engineers from Soylent were unavailable for comment.
31 Likes
Wait a minute; “eventually(?)”
1 Like
17 Likes
How did I get to this thread before @Donald_Petersen?
16 Likes
He’s still in recovery?
16 Likes
Oh no there might have been pure oxygen around as well. If it is being inhaled then it is being exhaled into the room. I read about a patient having throat surgery who caught fire because he was being given oxygen.
5 Likes
I share @Mister44’s scepticism about the small amount of methane being the major culprit; but ‘surgical fires’ are most definitely a thing; often thanks to the various gasses involved in anesthesia, as you note.
As the line “Fuel source (e.g., surgical drapes, alcohol-based skin preparation agents, the patient)” suggests; You Do Not Want one to happen to you.
13 Likes
Sh, you smell that?
Edit:
Seems today is the anniversary of when I joined the Happy Mutants. I have a cake!
14 Likes
but ‘surgical fires’ are most definitely a thing;
Absolutely. Cauterizer plus alcohol is always a popular combination.
4 Likes
“We’re sorry to bother you while you are recovering, but we’d like to discuss a financial opportunity with you. Are you familiar with gene patenting?”
3 Likes
More than likely there was no fart; somebody just left something in the way of the laser that caught fire, like the cover thingie with the hole in it, creating a panic which in turn resulted in burnt curtains.
4 Likes
Sounds more like some kind of perforation of the gastrointestinal tract. A fart would be pretty far away from the surgical field.
2 Likes
So that’s what it means! I asked BB but got no reply. I guess it’s an intelligence test. 
4 Likes
I was on the mix stage… but I’m awfully glad you brought my attention to it! 
I agree that it was perfectly plausible with the presence of oxygen plus biomethane, but mostly because I want it to be true. Not that she was injured, no, that was wholly regrettable and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.
But a small, evil, nasty part of me wants us all to worry about farts during laser surgery.
15 Likes
