The girl suffered a cervical spinal cord injury from inhaling laughter balls continuously for 5 years

On July 23, the 7A Military Hospital (HCMC) said that the hospital was treating a female patient (26 years old, living in Ho Chi Minh City) with signs of poisoning after using 6-7 N2O-containing laughter balls continuously for 2 days.

Specifically, according to the patient's family, after inhaling the smiley ball, this patient began to have a feeling of being pricked by a needle, difficulty walking, increasing symptoms accompanied by sphincter dysfunction.

These symptoms gradually increased, but the patient did not go to the doctor, but bought the medicine to take at home. After 15 days, when the disease got worse, the patient went to Military Hospital 7A for examination. Worth mentioning, during the past 5 years, the patient regularly uses the smiley ball, 2-3 times a week, 5-7 balls each time.

Responding to the press, BS.CKII Kieu Manh Ha, Head of the Department of Neurology, 7A Military Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City, said that the patient admitted to the hospital was obese, with normal vital signs. Physical examination, patient's gait is not stable; tendon reflexes are reduced in extremities, no pyramidal reflexes. Other organs have not reported any abnormalities.

"The fact that the patient shows signs of laughing gas poisoning but does not go to the nearest medical facility for examination but arbitrarily buys drugs to treat at home will increase symptoms, cause severe injury upon admission, leaving serious consequences, affecting health in the long run. Currently, the patient has a long-term cervical spinal cord injury from C1 to C6, paralysis, and is unable to walk," said Dr. Ha.

This doctor also added: "This is the reason why many people at first only use smiley balls for fun, thinking it's harmless because they stop laughing. But the tendency will gradually increase the dose and cause the risk of poisoning. In the case of laughing due to inhaling laughter balls, excessive and continuous laughter can also cause asphyxiation due to lack of oxygen.

Not long ago on April 17, Bai Chay Hospital (Quang Ninh province) also reported that the hospital had received a female patient - named VTLA (15 years old, living in Quang Ninh) who came to the clinic with numbness in his limbs, weakness, difficulty walking, weight loss.

According to family members, LA has been using smiley balls continuously for 10 days with the amount of about 10 balls per day.

The results of magnetic resonance imaging of the cervical spine showed a lesion of the dorsal horn of the cervical spinal cord. The doctor diagnosed LA with cervical spinal nerve root disease, followed up by N2O laughing gas poisoning. The patient was treated with neurotransmitters, tonics, and hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

At that time, Bai Chay Hospital also said that in the past time, the hospital had received many cases of patients with N2O poisoning due to long-term use of laughing balls. Patients often experience neurological symptoms such as numbness, weakness or mild weakness in limbs, unsteady walking, with or without cervical spinal cord injury...

Dr. Ha noted, N2O gas does not dissolve in the blood, the amount of oxygen is low, there is no oxygen ball, so when used, it will cause a lack of oxygen to the brain. The user may be excited at first, then fall into a coma if the user has a history of cardiovascular diseases, asthma, and nervous irritability.

"All chemicals can be addictive and if used for the wrong purpose, over a long period of time, they will cause harm, especially permanent damage to the brain. N2O has been used in medicine since more than 150 years ago for general anesthesia. However, due to its weak effect, now in medicine this substance is rarely used alone, but often used in combination with other anesthetics," said Dr. Ha.

In the world, laughing gas is allowed to be used in medicine with a certain dose as prescribed by a doctor, however, laughing gas N2O is a group of addictive substances, belonging to the group of hallucinogens that tend to increase the dose, users can become dependent, addicted, similar to heroin.

N2O (Dinitrous oxide or nitrous oxide), also known as laughing gas, is one of the colorless inorganic compounds, with a mild sweet taste. This substance enters the body, in the form of a gas, will displace oxygen, depriving the body of oxygen, inhibiting the central nervous system, causing many feelings of high and paranoia.

N2O is a group of addictive substances, belonging to the hallucinogenic group with a tendency to increase the dose, users may experience dependence, addiction, and hallucinations similar to heroin.

If you use a quick and small smiley ball, it will cause laughter and transient excitement. However, patients who use N2O in large quantities for a long time can cause nervous system toxicity, damage from the brain to the spinal cord, especially the cervical and thoracic spinal cord.

Common signs such as numbness, weakness, memory disorders, sleep disturbances, cardiac arrhythmias and hypotension, anemia, B12 deficiency... Even patients may be comatose, blood pressure drops, body paralysis, death.g.

People with cardiovascular disease, asthma and respiratory diseases if using and exposed to N2O gas can be life-threatening due to asphyxiation, respiratory failure.

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