New Delhi:
That alluring smoke filled drink, which looks attractive in a pub can be very dangerous. A Delhi businessman learnt the hard way when he was faced with a hole in his stomach. And landed up in the hospital. The cocktail he was served with was laced with liquid nitrogen, used to turbo-freeze food and drinks for an attractive look, left him in a serious life-threatening situation.
On April 13, the 30-year-old went to a pub in Gurgaon and didn’t think twice before downing a new cocktail on the menu.
He ingested quickly even before the white smoke - liquid nitrogen vapours - had disappeared. Ignoring the unease that he felt immediately, he had another drink.
"Within seconds, my stomach started swelling and I was in unbearable pain. Breathing was also difficult," the man reported.
When he was rushed to the hospital, doctors were taken aback. The doctors discovered a hole in his insides. His stomach was open "like a book", various people reported them as saying.
The doctors were compelled to remove a part of his stomach, as his condition was serious. The nitrogen gas was trapped inside the stomach and, with no outlet, burnt a hole.
A doctor who conducted the surgery on him was quoted as saying that surgery team was not very confident of his recovery.
Liquid nitrogen, which is the liquid form of nitrogen gas, boils at point of -195.8 degree Celsius and is popularly used in gourmet cooking as it automatically freezes anything it meets.
It is mostly used in making instant ice-cream, or freeze dry fruits, and usually in bars for the theatrical "smoking drink" effect.
However, doctors’ advice that if liquid nitrogen is ingested in some form before it evaporates totally, it can lead to severe tissue damage. As it can expand more than 500 times, so if there is no exit a person's stomach can "explode", quite literally.
