Woman with Intense Abdominal Pain Actually Had Ketchup Packaging Trapped in Her Bowels

STATES CHRONICLE – A woman from Great Britain went to the hospital after suffering intense abdominal pain and bloating for several days. At first, she was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. Later, doctors discovered the real source of her pain was two pieces of Heinz ketchup packaging which had got stuck in her bowels.

Doctors thought the woman has Crohn’s disease

The 41-year-old woman experienced acute abdominal pain for at least three days, so she decided it was time to go see a doctor. The symptoms she exhibited were similar to those of Crohn’s disease, so the doctors administered her the treatment suitable for the disease. However, the woman didn’t respond well to it.

When they noticed the treatment didn’t work, they decided it was time to perform a surgery. This is how they observed that a swollen mass was piercing the wall of the woman’s intestine, causing the acute pain. After removing the mass, they were surprised to observe it was actually made of two pieces of ketchup packaging with the Heinz logo designed on them.

The inflammation was caused by two pieces of ketchup packaging

As soon as the ketchup packaging was taken away from the woman’s bowels, she immediately started feeling better. The pain disappeared and she no longer exhibited any symptoms similar to those of Crohn’s disease. What was interesting was that the woman didn’t remember consuming ketchup from such packaging.

Doctors thought the phenomenon was interesting, and developed a case study published in the British Medical Journal. Crohn’s disease is caused by an inflammation of the bowels, either in the last part of the small intestine or the first part of the colon. The symptoms include sudden weight loss, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. Doctors observed that ingesting foreign bodies could accurately simulate the symptoms of Crohn’s disease.
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