Cocktail of liquid nitrogen - Girl has stomach removed
Discussion
fido said:
hyperblue said:
When ordering a drink in a bar, I think it's a reasonable expectation that I'm not going to end up having my stomach removed as a result.
If i'm ordering a Bitter Shandy in Weatherspoons, then yes. But if i was in a club in Soho where they offered a super-chilled Guinness with Liquid N2, i might give it a miss .. you know just for self-preservation.She's been beaten to a Darwin Award by 14 years...
http://darwinawards.com/personal/personal2000-25.h...
"I subsequently learned a few things about liquid nitrogen. While you can safely hold it in your mouth and blow neat smoke patterns, you should never, ever swallow. The closed epiglottis prevents the gas from escaping, so expanding gas is forced into your body. And your esophagus naturally constricts around anything inside it, so even though there is a thin protective gas layer, the esophagus will manage to make contact with the liquid nitrogen."
http://darwinawards.com/personal/personal2000-25.h...
"I subsequently learned a few things about liquid nitrogen. While you can safely hold it in your mouth and blow neat smoke patterns, you should never, ever swallow. The closed epiglottis prevents the gas from escaping, so expanding gas is forced into your body. And your esophagus naturally constricts around anything inside it, so even though there is a thin protective gas layer, the esophagus will manage to make contact with the liquid nitrogen."
andy_s said:
Even if everyone else was drinking it and had been for years with no iill effects?
Really, people have been doing it for years? Maybe in chemistry labs as a prank, but it's news to me ..http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/9593457/Girl-los...
"Numerous recipes for liquid nitrogen cocktails can be found on the internet but the substance can cause serious cold burns and should never be ingested."
Perhaps, it should be banned full-stop.
3point14159key said:
thinfourth2 said:
Okay as someone who has worked with liquid nitrogen could someone please exlpain how you can get liquid N2 into a cocktail without the N2 gassing off and basically exploding
its fine if you're pouring it into an open container like a glass.might go and film a few videos and put them up later tonight
tonyvid said:
I can't imagine what it must be like living without a stomach - how does that work? Stupid or not, it must've been complete agony.
Er, I think you'll find she hasn't had her complete stomach removed, although you may not realise this if you get your 'facts' from Sky News or The Sun 
otolith said:
Ozzie Osmond said:
Except, of course, hot or boiling water is also very, very dangerous.
It is - should that not be available in a bar either?FurtiveFreddy said:
tonyvid said:
I can't imagine what it must be like living without a stomach - how does that work? Stupid or not, it must've been complete agony.
Er, I think you'll find she hasn't had her complete stomach removed, although you may not realise this if you get your 'facts' from Sky News or The Sun BBC said:
Doctors performed emergency surgery to remove Gaby Scanlon's stomach, an operation known as a total gastrectomy.
During the operation the stomach is cut out and the remaining two tubes to and from the stomach, the oesophagus and the small bowel, are connected.
People who have had a gastrectomy will still be able to lead a normal life and eat and drink regular food but they will need to eat smaller amounts and take vitamin supplements to make sure they get enough nourishment.
During the operation the stomach is cut out and the remaining two tubes to and from the stomach, the oesophagus and the small bowel, are connected.
People who have had a gastrectomy will still be able to lead a normal life and eat and drink regular food but they will need to eat smaller amounts and take vitamin supplements to make sure they get enough nourishment.
Ozzie Osmond said:
Liquid nitrogen shouldn't be there in the first place. Just because it's not toxic doesn't mean it's not dangerous. Very, very dangerous.
Not particulaly. I've put my whole forearm into the stuff before and nothing bad happened. Admittedly very quickly, but it's not as dangerous as you would think.andy_s said:
fido said:
hyperblue said:
When ordering a drink in a bar, I think it's a reasonable expectation that I'm not going to end up having my stomach removed as a result.
If i'm ordering a Bitter Shandy in Weatherspoons, then yes. But if i was in a club in Soho where they offered a super-chilled Guinness with Liquid N2, i might give it a miss .. you know just for self-preservation.Did she down it straight away before the drink had done its party piece, was she told what to do with it before drinking?
I wonder if she was given a flaming sambuca, is she the type that will not put it out and pour it on herself.
I remember when working in a cocktail bar in Leeds, that we had to take anything flaming off the menu due to drunks not following instructions and setting fire to themselves... fortunately with fire its easy to sort out with two soda syphons and a few Dispenser Guns.
fido said:
andy_s said:
Even if everyone else was drinking it and had been for years with no iill effects?
Really, people have been doing it for years? Maybe in chemistry labs as a prank, but it's news to me ..http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/9593457/Girl-los...
"Numerous recipes for liquid nitrogen cocktails can be found on the internet but the substance can cause serious cold burns and should never be ingested."
Perhaps, it should be banned full-stop.
It appears that it has to be nitrogen as liquid CO2 isn't cold enough to freeze the alcohol.
andy_s said:
Perhaps - it seems a bit silly to give someone a drink that they shouldn't drink when they're drunk, if you follow.
It appears that it has to be nitrogen as liquid CO2 isn't cold enough to freeze the alcohol.
A minor point, but there's no hope of getting liquid carbon dioxide - solid or gas only in a public bar or club at 1 atmosphere pressure.It appears that it has to be nitrogen as liquid CO2 isn't cold enough to freeze the alcohol.
Ozzie Osmond said:
otolith said:
Ozzie Osmond said:
Except, of course, hot or boiling water is also very, very dangerous.
It is - should that not be available in a bar either?Munter said:
FurtiveFreddy said:
tonyvid said:
I can't imagine what it must be like living without a stomach - how does that work? Stupid or not, it must've been complete agony.
BBC said:
Doctors performed emergency surgery to remove Gaby Scanlon's stomach, an operation known as a total gastrectomy...
Worcester(Massachusetts) Polytechnic Institute News Release in 1999:
Michael Mazur, a West Hills, Calif., native who received his bachelor's degree in physics in May 1998, swallowed liquid nitrogen and lived-possibly the first person to do so. The response and cooperation of emergency medical teams from WPI, the city of Worcester, and the nearby University of Massachusetts Medical Center (now UMass Memorial Health Care) helped beat the odds and save his life.
Mazur tells the story: "As tradition dictates, we made our own ice cream, using liquid nitrogen as a refrigerant and aerator. We spilled a little of the nitrogen onto a table and watched tiny little drops of it dance around."
Someone asked, "Why does it do that?" Mazur explained that the nitrogen evaporated when it came in contact with the table, which provided a cushion of air for the drop to sit on, and thermally insulated it to minimize further evaporation-enabling it to do its little dance without scarring the table, boiling away or being "smeared" out. "It's this principle," he said, "that makes it possible for someone to dip his wet hand into molten lead or to put liquid nitrogen in his mouth without injury."
Mazur had worked with the chemical in a cryogenics lab several years before and believed in the principle. To prove it to the doubting ice cream socializers, he poured some into a glass and into his mouth-fully expecting to impress the crowd by blowing smoke rings. But then he swallowed the liquid nitrogen. "Within two seconds I had collapsed on the floor, unable to breathe or feel anything other than intense pain."
"Michael performed a stunt he and other students and teachers have been doing for years," says Thomas Keil, professor and head of WPI's Physics Department. "Only this time, for some reason, he swallowed the liquid nitrogen. That turned a trick into a life-threatening medical emergency."
WPI Campus Police Officers George Burnham and Russell Fontaine and Emergency Medical Service members John Koser '99 and Jason Verdolino '00 responded within two minutes. They took Mazur's vital signs, kept him stable and comfortable, and gathered information for Worcester EMTs, who arrived shortly thereafter and administered oxygen and transported him to UMass.
"Michael was conscious when he came in to the emergency ward," says Dr. Paul Bankey, associate professor of surgery. "He had signs of perforation of the stomach on x-ray (a surgical emergency) and was also at risk for perforation of his esophagus. Fortunately we have the resources and commitment to treat all types of trauma and acute surgical conditions at the UMass hospital. Michael's evaluation required the coordinated efforts of the emergency and thoracic surgery departments as well as the general surgery team."
Luckily, during surgery we found that only his stomach was injured, as this is more easily dealt with than the esophagus. The lining of both the esophagus and stomach were visualized during the operation so that all areas of injury were identified."
When you swallow anything, your epiglottis closes; in Mazur's case it kept the nitrogen, now a gas, from escaping and forced it into his body. As a result, his entire gastrointestinal tract was scarred, burned and perforated, one of his lungs collapsed because of pressure within his chest cavity from the expanding gas, and part of his stomach had to be removed. Despite the seriousness and scope of the injuries, Mazur began breathing on his own within a few days, was walking within one week, and was discharged from the hospital in two weeks.
"What was really astounding about Michael's case is that the liquid nitrogen instantly expanded from a volume of about 3 or 4 cc's to about 3 or 4 liters and then dissected into five separate body compartments," says Dr. Karl D. Pilson, a trauma/critical care fellow at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston who was formerly chief surgical resident at UMMC. "We operated on Michael's abdomen and conservatively managed the gas in his chest with success. A comprehensive literature review reveals this to be the first known case of these injuries resulting from the ingestion of liquid nitrogen."
Bankey was delighted at how quickly Mazur recovered. "Several weeks later, when we looked at the area of injury to the stomach via endoscopy, it was amazing to see how well it had healed," he says.
"By March I was back to my normal self," Mazur says. He returned to WPI to complete his degree requirements and graduated with his class in May. In September, he enrolled in a master's program in physics at the University of Chicago, happy to be alive and putting the experience far behind him.
"Physicians always say they learn a lot from their patients," says Bankey. "Michael's horrific chemical accident taught us once again that in trauma and emergency surgery, it's best to expect the unexpected."
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