A Florida man was eating breakfast at a diner with his wife when he sneezed so forcefully that parts of his intestines came out of his body.
The 63-year-old had a history of prostate cancer and had a surgical wound at the time of the bizarre medical event.
The American Journal of Medical Case Reports published the incident in its May 2024 edition.
The report documented various health complications the man had with post-cancer recurrence, stating he received a cystectomy procedure to remove his bladder 15 days before the sneezing incident. The surgery left the man with a healing wound on his abdomen and he was discharged in good condition.
The morning of the sneeze, he returned to the urology clinic for a routine check-up where doctors said "his wound appeared well-healed," the report said. After the staples on the wound were removed, the man and his wife went out for breakfast to celebrate.
"During breakfast, the man sneezed forcefully, followed by coughing. He immediately noticed a 'wet' sensation and pain in his lower abdomen. Looking down, he saw several loops of pink bowel protruding from his recent surgical site," the researchers wrote.
The man didn't know what to do. He covered the protruding intestines with a shirt and called an ambulance. Within four minutes paramedics were removing his fluid-soaked shirt, covered the wound with a pad and administered pain relief.
A female paramedic explained she was unsure how to treat the man as her medical protocols didn't have specific guidelines for treating evisceration. Only minimal bleeding could be seen.
"She covered the intestines with an abdominal pad moistened with saline, securing it in place by wrapping gauze roll around the entire abdomen. "She inserted an IV and administered fentanyl and ondansetron before arriving at the hospital," the researchers wrote.
In the hospital's emergency department, the Urology service was contacted. Vital signs came back strong and bloodwork tests showed no difference to recent samples.
"Three Urologic surgeons carefully reduced the eviscerated bowel back into the abdominal cavity," the report adds.
"They inspected the full length of the small bowel and noted no evidence of injury."
The journal stressed the importance of the case concluding, "while wound dehiscence is a well-known complication, this case is important because evisceration through the abdominal surgical site after cystectomy is poorly described in the medical literature."
