I’m glad I had my tonsils out years ago, or this would make me think twice about it. A 76-year-old man admitted to the hospital in Chiba, Japan, for respiratory failure was about to have a new tube implanted in his trachea when the one already in there caught fire as the doctor cut into his throat with an electrosurgical knife. The flames reached as high as 10 centimeters, and scorched his respiratory passage, mouth and face. This isn’t the first time it’s happened either—the Journal of Japan Society for Clinical Anesthesia has multiple reports of electric knives causing fires. Apparently, it’s a risk when tracheal tubes supply oxygen with a concentration of 40 percent or more. Remind me to never get get on with an electric knife, as badass as that sounds. [Mainichi via IS Online]
