Patient's fart catches fire during laser surgery, causes serious burns

Los angeles : Can farts start fire? Well, yes! A woman’s operation went haywire when a leak of the her intestinal gas led to a fire incident in the operation theatre.

According to reports, the woman’s farts combined with the surgical laser and sparked a fire which seriously burnt her legs and waist.

The incident happened on April 15 this year at the Tokyo Medical University Hospital in Shinjuku Ward, but the news came into limelight after the investigation committee submitted its final report.

As per the report, no flammable materials were present in the operating theatre and all equipment was functioning normally at the time.

It concluded,: “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 woman, who is in her 30s, survived but her exact condition, is not known.

Are farts flammable?

Human farts are made primarily in two ways- from swallowing air and digesting food and majorly constitute hydrogen, nitrogen, some carbon dioxide and potentially a small amount of methane and oxygen.

 

Nitrogen is not flammable but the remaining gases in farts are generally byproducts of the fermentation and microbes which can all be set alight. Such a typical fart will usually burn yellow or orange, with the flammable part mostly being hydrogen in this case.