'Crohn's disease' patient had Heinz sachet in gut Published duration 3 January 2018

image copyright British Medical Journal image caption The patient said she had no memory of swallowing a sachet

A woman who thought for years she had bowel disease was found to have pieces of a sauce sachet in her intestine.

Doctors at Wexham Park Hospital, Slough, initially diagnosed the 41-year-old patient with Crohn's disease after bouts of acute abdominal pain.

A British Medical Journal report said that after being taken in for surgery, two pieces of Heinz plastic packaging were found perforating her gut.

Once the pieces were removed, the patient was cured.

She had no memory of eating a meal involving the sachet.

image copyright British Medical Journal image caption The patient had been suffering stomach pains for six years before the source of the problem was found

Doctors said it was the first case they had seen of ingested plastic packaging mimicking the symptoms of Crohn's disease.

"It is important to consider alternative surgical diagnoses in patients with presumed Crohn's disease unresponsive to standard treatment," the report said.

What is Crohn's disease?