A 63-year-old man, sneezed and coughed at the same time while eating breakfast at a US diner, only to find his colon had fallen out of his body.
The man, who with his wife, was at a Florida restaurant, felt a 'wet' sensation after which came a sharp pain.
The man had recently undergone abdominal surgery with the doctors assuring him the incision had healed but when he lifted up his shirt, he saw several inches of his colon coming out of the surgical wound.
An ambulance was summoned and paramedics, when they arrived, found a three-inch opening with 'large amounts of bowel' visible through. Luckily, the blood loss was minimal and there was no damage to the exposed organ. Once he was taken to the hospital, surgeons put his bowel back into his abdomen.
The man remained in hospital for six days after which he was discharged when he reportedly recovered without any complications.
Dehiscence - the reopening of a surgical wound - is reportedly a rare occurrence and happens in three out of 100 people who undergo abdominal and pelvic surgeries. The occurrence is believed to be more common in elderly patients.
The condition can be fatal in four out of 10 patients due to excessive blood loss or if the exposed organs are injured.
The American Journal of Medical Case Reports, where this case featured, noted that coughing is a common reason why this happens.
The man who went through this ordeal had earlier battled prostate cancer and his recent surgery was to fix the issues caused by his earlier surgeries, and his bladder removal was among them.
Doctors removed the stitches on the morning his bowels fell out. He had gone with his wife to a diner to celebrate his clean bill of health over breakfast. The surgeons, to ensure the wounds did not reopen, performed figure-of-eight stitches. This is among the most advanced and strongest closures.
They also performed internal and external stitching as well as stitches which penetrate numerous layers of the abdominal wall.
Published 10 June 2024, 05:02 IST