Lewis Pennock of the Mirror reports a 46-year-old woman vomited so violently her bladder exploded in a horrific case of food poisoning.
The woman, who had eaten dodgy seafood, was rushed to hospital after spending all night being sick until her condition deteriorated to the point her bladder ruptured.
A serving of gone-off seafood is thought to have left the woman with severe food poisoning, before her symptoms spiralled.
Surgeons who inspected the damage found a 3cm tear in the organ, a report in the British Medical Journal said, which is an incredibly rare side effect of vomiting.
The BMJ Case Report, authored by four medics from West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust, said the extreme injury was a “rare” reaction.
The unnamed woman, thought to be from Watford, had been eating dinner in a restaurant when she fell ill with food poisoning and began to vomit.
She went home but began to feel worse – and the vomiting became so intense her bladder was ruptured.
She decided to seek medical attention when the frequency and intensity of the vomiting caused her to bleed heavily from her vagina, experts said.
The woman, who had no history of a weakened bladder, was unable to go to the toilet despite having a full bladder.
The BMJ report said: “Spontaneous bladder rupture is a rare entity, with very few reports in the literature.”
It added: “This unusual case is important, as it has demonstrated that even normal, healthy bladders may rupture during episodes of high intra-abdominal pressure.”
