A surgery is always a delicate and fragile moment for a person due to the risks that this procedure can present.
For this, there are qualified doctors who work in the operation so that it occurs in the best possible way. But sometimes, inevitably, there can be complications.
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This is the case of emergency heart surgery performed on a man in the 1960s. Its complication was somewhat unusual. The moment the man was on the operating table, his chest, which was open, started to catch fire. Fortunately, the doctors were able to put out the fire and successfully complete the operation without further complications.
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The incident was reported at the international conference Euroanaesthesia. It is an annual convention of the European Society of Anesthesiology.
According to the medical report, the man suffered a dissection of the ascending aorta, which is a rupture potentially fatal in the inner wall of the main artery that pumps blood from the heart to the rest of the body. So he had to be rushed into surgery.
His chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) caused complications in the procedure. Therefore, to reach the man's heart, the doctors had to open his sternum, which is the bone that is in the middle of the chest.
That done, professionals saw that the man's right lung was attached to the sternum. And in addition, pieces of lung tissue were damaged.
Typically, air bubbles form in people who have COPD. And when the doctors tried to carefully pry the right lung out of the man's sternum, they ended up puncturing one of those blisters. With that, there was a huge air leak.
To prevent the patient from experiencing any discomfort, the doctors applied more anesthesia and changed the airflow the man was receiving to 100%.
Thus, as soon as the airflow was increased, a spark from the electrocautery (a device that uses heat to burn or cut tissue) fell into the bag. And because of the oxygen-rich air around man's chest, fire was eventually created. Luckily, the doctors managed to put it out quickly and there was no harm done to the patient.
Fortunately, the surgery was controlled by the doctors and proceeded normally without any problems, managing to successfully repair the man's artery. After this incident, doctors went to research other similar cases. Six cases were found, all of which involved dry pouches.
As rare as this type of event is, you need to be aware, especially doctors, they should know the necessary procedures in this case.
“In particular, surgeons and anesthetists need to be aware that fires can occur in the chest cavity if a lung damaged or if there is an air leak for any reason, and that COPD patients are at greater risk,” said Ruth Shaylor.
