Why do some people have green blood?

There are actually people who have been found to have green blood.

For example, a 42-year-old man presented himself at St. Paul’s Hospital, Canada.

He had developed compartment syndrome. This is tissue or nerve damage from restricted blood flow that develops in certain “compartments” (areas). The man had that in both legs.

He was a smoker, had a history of migraines, and took a lot of medications like sumatriptan (a migraine medication) for several months, diclofenac (a pain reliever), and zopiclone (a sleeping pill).

It was decided to split the fascia.

This is a limb rescue procedure in which tissue is severed in such a way that the pressure is relieved and blood flow is restored.

Some emergency tests were performed on the man for the operation.

He was found to be slightly tachycardial (a fast heartbeat) but normal blood pressure His only initial abnormal bleeding result was an extremely high concentration of creatine kinase. This is an enzyme that ensures that our cells have enough energy.

In the operating room an attempt was made to insert a radial arterial catheter into the man (i.e. on the arm). Green-black blood came to light, which of course was immediately sent away for analysis.

One would have guessed that the change in color was a cyanosis. The hemoglobin swims around in blood without carrying oxygen. This also happens when someone turns blue due to shortness of breath.

In this case, the blood was green because the hemoglobin had incorporated sulfur molecules that came from the drugs.

To understand again: Hemoglobin is our blood pigment, which carries the oxygen and which is then normally red. It usually only changes color when it is broken down.
You can see this when a bruise clears up. it turns green, blue and yellow.