Expert warns of ‘alarming’ rise in spinal cord damage from laughing gas abuse

There has been an “alarming” spike in the number of young people in Ireland ending up with spinal cord damage and lasting injuries from inhaling nitrous oxide, a study has found.

Nitrous oxide, more commonly known as laughing gas or whippets, is legally sold for catering and industrial purposes.

But in recent years youth workers and community organisations have warned of a rise in children and young people abusing the substance by inhaling it, often using balloons.

The study, published in the American Journal of Neuroradiology, was led by a consultant neuroradiologist at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin, Seamus Looby.

He said: “The rise in cases of spinal cord damage since the pandemic is alarming.”

The researchers found cases of spinal cord damage caused by nitrous oxide have “spiked significantly” since the Covid-19 pandemic.

No cases were recorded at the hospital between 2012 and 2020, however 14 cases were diagnosed between 2021 and the end of 2024.

The median age of patients was 20.

Most of the patients in the study improved after treatment, but none fully recovered, and all of them were left with some lasting neurological damage.

The harm occurs when the drug interferes with the body’s ability to process vitamin B12, leading to a condition called subacute combined degeneration of the spinal cord (SACD).

Symptoms include numbness in the hands or feet and difficulty with balance and co-ordination.

Teenagers “are inhaling laughing gas canisters as they consider it a bit of harmless fun”, Professor Looby said.

“But what we’re seeing tells a different story.

He said he hopes the study “prompts greater awareness and education on nitrous oxide’s potential for permanent, damaging effects”.

The research was the second-largest European case study of nitrous oxide-induced SACD.