Canadian Man Bleeds Green: Surgeons in Vancouver Operate on a Patient with Green Blood

A patient in Canada who needed urgent leg surgery shocked his team of surgeons when he began bleeding a dark green blood, the BBC reports. The BBC also mentions that Star Trek's Mr. Spock was also a carrier of green blood, though they're both caused for different reasons.

The patient in Canada had been taking a migraine medicine called sumatriptan in sizable doses, at least 200 milligrams a day. The compounds in the medicine caused a rare condition named sulfhemoglobin. This is means that sulfur is present in the oxygen-carrying compound 'hemoglobin' found in the red blood cells. The presence of sulfur causes the red blood cells to appear dark green, nearly black.

The man needed urgent surgery at St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver because he had fallen asleep in a sitting position and because of pre-existing condition, he could have lost his legs. His condition, known as compartment syndrome, causes swelling and pressure in a restricted space which then causes a limited blood flow and causes localized tissue and nerve damage. The surgeons were performing a procedure known as urgent fasciotomies which would save his limbs by making incisions to relieve the pressure and swelling.

After his surgery and recovery, the patient's blood returned to normal. Dr Alana Flexman told the BBC "The patient recovered uneventfully and stopped talking sumatriptan after discharge." She also mentioned that five weeks after his last dose of sumatriptan, there was no trace of sulfhemoglobin remaining in his blood.

Credit: BBC International