A man sneezed and coughed at the same time causing his colon to fall out of his body as he sat having breakfast at a US diner.
The 63-year-old was with his wife at the restaurant in Florida when he felt a ‘wet’ sensation followed by a sharp pain.
He then lifted up his shirt and spotted several inches of his colon poking out of a surgical wound.
The man had recently had abdominal surgery, but doctors told him the incision had healed well.
An ambulance was called and on arrival paramedics observed a three-inch opening with ‘large amounts of amounts of bowel’ protruding through.
Fortunately there was minimal blood loss and no damage to the exposed organ.
He was taken to hospital and surgeons managed to put his bowel back into his abdomen.
After six days in hospital, he was able to return home and reportedly recovered without complications.
The case featured in the American Journal of Medical Case Reports.
Dehiscence, which is when a surgical wound reopen, is thought to happen in three-in-100 people who have undergone abdominal and pelvic surgeries. It’s slightly more common in elderly patients.
For four in 10 patients it can be fatal due to excessive blood loss and injury to the organs that have been exposed.
Coughing is a common reason for it happening, the American Journal report said.
He had previously battled prostate cancer and the recent surgery was to correct issues caused by earlier surgeries, among them the removal of his bladder.
On the morning his bowels fell out, doctors removed his stitches.
He and his wife then decided to go to a diner and celebrate his clean bill of health with a breakfast.
To make sure the wound didn’t reopen surgeons performed figure-of-eight stitches, one of the most advanced and strongest types of closures, plus internal and external stitching and stiches that penetrate multiple layers of the abdominal wall.
Source: Metro