A desire to try smoking paan has landed a 12-year-old girl from Bengaluru in a hospital with a hole in her stomach. The girl has been hospitalized at Narayana Multi Specialty Hospital in HSR Layout.
According to a report in the TOI, the girl was rushed to the hospital after she complained of severe discomfort in the stomach.
“I just wanted to try the smoky paan because it looked interesting, and everyone else was trying it too. No one else was hurt or felt any pain, but the discomfort I experienced was terrifying,” she said.
The girl will undergo surgery to avoid further complications according to doctors treating her.
About 4×5 cm of the affected portion of the stomach on the lesser curvature is removed during the surgery.
According to TOI, Dr Vijay H S, Operating Surgeon at the Surgical Gastroenterology Department and led the surgical team, said, “Intra-op OGD scopy is a procedure where an endoscope, a flexible tube equipped with a camera and a light, is used during surgery to examine the esophagus, stomach and duodenum – the first part of the small intestine.” The statement further explained, “The rapid vaporisation of liquid nitrogen in an enclosed space generates immense force. This volatile chemical can damage the skin and present severe health hazards to chefs and other food handlers. Inhaling the vapors can lead to breathing difficulties, and there have been reports of tissue damage due to the hazardous nature of liquid nitrogen.”
This is not the first such case where consumption of food or drinks with liquid nitrogen has led to hospitalization.