Crohn's Disease Patient Actually Had Heinz Ketchup Packet Lodged In Intestine

A woman initially believed to be suffering Crohn's disease was misdiagnosed with what actually turned out to be a packet of Heinz ketchup lodged in her intestine. The ketchup packet had reportedly been stuck inside of her for six years.

The 41-year-old woman experienced symptoms, such as abdominal pain, that are frequently associated with Crohn's disease — a persistent inflammatory bowel disease that affects the digestive tract. The patient, however, didn't respond to standard treatments given to others that suffer from the disease, according to a report published by the British Medical Journal.

"MRI enterography revealed multiple small bowel strictures with dilated ileal and jejunal loops," the BMJ report read. "It was proposed that this was Crohn's disease behaving as a stricturing disease, thus explaining her recurrent admissions with obstruction. By this stage, she was passing stools 5–6 times daily and scored 8 on the Harvey-Bradshaw index."

"Due to disease progression and recurrent admissions, it was clear that surgical intervention was required," the report continued.

Medical professionals at Heatherwood Hospital and Wexham Park Hospital in Berkshire, England, prepared the patient for a laparoscopy and a limited right hemicolectomy to determine the origin of her problems. The surgeons came across two small pieces of plastic with the word "Heinz." She has no recollection of having a meal in recent time that contained a Heinz ketchup packet.

"The conclusion was that these findings were consistent with a partially healed bowel perforation with adhesion and features of acute ischaemia with no evidence of Crohn's disease," the report read. "The operation and the postoperative recovery were uneventful and the patient was asymptomatic at 1, 3 and 5 months follow-up."

Nearly 80 percent of foreign objects pass through the gastrointestinal tract without the need for interference. There are instances, like that of the patient, where the digestive system has issues passing unknown objects. This could ultimately cause damage to the GI tract or become stuck.

There have been other reports this week of bizarre medical emergencies. A 64-year-old man mistakenly mixed up his eyedrops with clear nail glue in Oxford, England, while a 70-year-old woman in Melbourne suffered severe abdominal pain after surgeons discovered a toothpick was lodged in her colon.