A 31-year-old man who is a nightclub owner downed an entire 500ml bottle of tequila and two shots of shochu, a type of hard Japanese liquor (which works out at around – the equivalent of 13 shots of spirits) while partying at a nightclub in Izunokuni, Japan.
He passed out and was rushed to the hospital, where tests showed he was in a ‘deep coma’ and had a dangerous amount of fluid in his lungs.
Doctors put him on a ventilator to prevent him from suffocating due to the fluid, which they suspect was vomit that he’d choked on.
After being transported to the hospital, he was given a score of E1V1M1 on the Glasgow Coma Scale, used to measure a person’s level of consciousness after a head injury.
The score meant that his eyes wouldn’t open, even when stimulated, he did not speak, moan, or make any sounds, and he did not move his limbs or any part of his body in response to commands or painful stimuli such as a pinch.
His blood pressure and heart rate were normal, but he was in respiratory distress and was becoming hypothermic.
His tongue was also obstructing his airway and crackling sounds were coming from his lungs, indicating fluid there.
It was probably due to vomiting while unconscious, causing the stomach contents to leak into the lungs.
The doctors who treated the man at Juntendo Shizuoka Hospital in Japan said: ‘The main life-threatening consequence of acute intoxication with high blood alcohol concentrations is respiratory depression.
‘In these conditions, intoxication also reduces the sensitivity of the airways and the reflex block of foreign bodies, increasing the risk of aspiration.’
On day two, he regained consciousness and his lung function improved, allowing doctors to remove the breathing tube.
He was discharged from the hospital on day three.
