An unruly Tennessee frat party ended with a student hospitalized with alcohol poisoning, introducing the world to alcohol enemas.
The drunken exploits of the fraternity revealed the new way of getting drunk, simultaneously worrying parents, administrators, and health care workers another fear, reports MSNBC .
Alexander “Xander” Broughton, 20, arrived at the hospital a little after midnight on September 22. His blood alcohol level was measured at 0.448 percent and injuries to his rectum worried hospital officials, who believed he may have been raped.
But when an officer interviewed a fellow frat member about the incident, the student revealed the injuries were caused by an alcohol enema. A police report stated:
“It is believed that members of the fraternity were utilizing rubber tubing inserted into their rectums as a conduit for alcohol.”
Broughton admitted to police that he participated in a drinking game with his frat brothers, but denied having an alcohol enema. A university police report stated, ” He also had no recollection of losing control of his bowels and defecating on himself.”
Fox News notes that alcohol enemas have long been the punch line of YouTube videos and also a song by NOFX called “Party Enema.”
Corey Slovis, chairman of department of emergency medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, has said that actually going through with getting one can have severe consequences. Slovis stated, “It’s something that offers no advantages, while at the same time risking someone’s life.”
An alcohol enema has a faster absorption rate, because it bypasses the stomach. Pouring it through a funnel can also increase the amount consumed, because it is difficult to tell how much is going in. Slovis added:
“When you’re dumping it into your rectum, often via a funnel, one or two ounces seems like such a minuscule amount.”
At least one case of alcohol enema has been fatal, with an autopsy showing the 58-year-old man was given an enema that gave him a blood alcohol level of 0.47 percent.