A man recently burned a hole in his esophagus after eating a burger flavored with ghost pepper paste in a contest. Here are all the details that his doctors published in The Journal of Emergency Medicine about his case.
An American man, 47, decided to slather his burger with paste made from ghost pepper, or “bhut jolokia.”
The ghost pepper is commonly known for being the spiciest pepper in the world. Its heat index measures at more than one million Scoville heat units. For comparison, a habanero pepper has less than half this amount, a jalapeño pepper has just 2,500 units, and a sweet pepper has zero.
While people are generally able to consume ghost peppers safely, this man’s case is probably the one that has been reported with the most significant adverse effects.
Immediately after eating the ghost pepper, the man began retching and vomiting.
He was quickly admitted to the emergency room, where doctors ran an x-ray and determined that the man had torn a 2.5-centimeter large hole in his esophagus from retching so violently.
The man was given a breathing tube and sent to emergency surgery to repair the hole – and remove any remaining food debris.
He had to receive breathing support for 14 days following his admittance to the hospital and was only discharged on day 23. When he left, he still had a gastric tube in his stomach to help his body resettle.
Doctors acknowledge that this man’s adverse reaction to ghost pepper ingestion is extremely rare, but continue to caution others from eating too spicy of meals.
This man’s doctors concluded their journal article by writing, “This case serves as an important reminder of a potentially life-threatening surgical emergency initially interpreted as discomfort after a large spicy meal.”
