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A man suffered a freak injury when his colon exploded after he coughed and sneezed at the same time while having breakfast with his wife.
According to Mail Online, the Florida native’s colon exploded, causing his intestines to fall out of his body.
The 63-year-old noticed a ‘wet’ sensation followed by sharp pain. When he lifted his shirt he saw several inches of bowel sticking out of his surgical wound.
He had recently had abdominal surgery but doctors insisted earlier that day his incision was ‘well-healed.’
His wife called an ambulance and upon arrival, paramedics said they observed a three-inch opening with ‘large amounts of bowel’ protruding through it.
The man was immediately rushed to the hospital where surgeons were able to successfully return his bowel into his abdomen.
After recovering in the hospital for six days, the man was sent home and experienced no further complications.
His case is detailed in the American Journal of Medical Case Reports.
This rare but serious complication of surgery is also called disembowelment and occurs when a patient’s internal organs protrude through an incision because of wound dehiscence, the reopening of a surgical site.
A study found wound dehiscence is estimated to occur in up to three-in-100 people who have had abdominal and pelvic surgeries but can occur in up to 10 per cent of elderly patients.
It can be deadly for four-in-10 patients due to excessive blood loss, prolonged severe pain or injury to the organs that have been exposed.
Experts, including those in the case report, cite coughing as a prominent risk factor for the complication, and authors of the report concluded: ‘Coughing was likely the cause in our case.’
When it does occur, it must be treated with surgery to replace organs in the abdomen and close the open wound.
