How is it that eating a watermelon overnight leads to small intestine resection? On July 30, a 70 year old man was operated in a hospital in Changsha, Hunan Province. The doctor said that the old man ate the overnight ice watermelon in the refrigerator the night before, and put it in the refrigerator together with other food after the watermelon was cut. The doctor concluded that the old man ate all kinds of bacteria, leading to serious infection.
&#Eating ice watermelon in summer is the favorite of many people, but Zhang Jianjun (pseudonym), a 70 year old man in Xiangxiang City, Hunan Province, didn't think that he was suffering from abdominal pain because he ate an ice watermelon stored overnight in the refrigerator. He was diagnosed with acute bleeding and death enteritis after he went to seek medical treatment. After emergency operation, he removed the small intestine with necrosis about 70cm long.
According to the old man's memory, at 6:00 p.m. on July 25, he walked home and felt hot and thirsty, so he took out a piece of ice watermelon that had been put in the refrigerator the day before. After eating the watermelon for 2 hours, Zhang Jianjun suddenly suffered from abdominal pain, and the pain continued to increase. The old man thought it was inconvenient to see a doctor at night and endured it until the next morning when his family sent him to the local hospital for treatment.
The local hospital considered him as an acute intestinal obstruction, and carried out symptomatic treatment such as anti infection, fluid infusion, gastrointestinal decompression, etc. However, after 2 days of treatment, the condition did not improve. On July 28, the old man was referred to the general surgery department of Changsha Central Hospital for further treatment.
After Zhang Jianjun was admitted to the hospital, Lei Zhisheng, deputy chief physician of General Surgery Department of Changsha Central Hospital, made a careful inspection for the elderly. It was found that the whole abdominal tenderness of the elderly was obvious. The CT results showed that the thickening of the wall of the small intestine in the lower abdomen was not complete with intestinal obstruction, peritoneal effusion and intestinal dilatation effusion. It was highly suspected of intestinal obstruction and intestinal necrosis. The medical team immediately completed the preoperative laparotomy exploration It was found that there were congestion, edema, necrosis and accumulation of air and liquid in the small intestine of about 70cm long in the elderly, which could not be preserved, so they could only be removed by operation. Fortunately, the operation was timely, the elderly recovered well after operation, and they could be discharged soon.
Why does a little ice watermelon cause such serious consequences?
Lei Zhisheng, deputy chief physician, said that many people think that the refrigerator is a safe fresh-keeping box, and bacteria will not grow in the low temperature environment. In fact, if the storage method is not correct, all kinds of bacteria carried by food will also multiply in the refrigerator. For example, eggs and meat may breed Salmonella. The incubation period of Salmonella infection is generally 8-24 hours, and the onset of the disease is sudden. The symptoms are cold, abdominal colic, nausea, vomiting, etc., followed by diarrhea, which occurs several times to more than ten times a day or more. Vegetables and fruits can breed Shigella. After 1-3 days incubation period, the disease will suddenly occur , fever, abdominal pain, watery diarrhea and other symptoms.
Grandpa Zhang usually has the habit of eating ice watermelon without discomfort, so he always thinks it's safe to put the food in the refrigerator. Before the disease, raw meat and vegetables were also stored in the refrigerator. In addition, watermelons were cut into pieces and put into the refrigerator without any packaging for a day and a night. The contact area with various bacteria was relatively large and the time was longer, which led to serious infection.
In addition to cold storage, many people think that freezing is a relatively safe way to preserve food, so we can often see food that has been preserved for months or even years in the freezer layer of each household. In fact, the professional freezer is - 80 ℃, and the food can be preserved for a long time. But the lowest temperature of household refrigerator is - 18 ℃, and it can't reach such a low temperature when the door is often opened or closed. Then, the protein and other components will gradually denature, and the food will also taste bad, leading to gastrointestinal diseases.
Lei Zhisheng reminded that people should regularly clean the food in the refrigerator, discard the food that has been stored for a long time, regularly clean the dirt in the refrigerator and do a good job in cleaning the refrigerator. The newly put food shall be packed, dated, placed and stored in categories according to the order of preservation time limit.
Lei Zhisheng suggested that watermelon should not be stored in the refrigerator for a long time, not for a short time, but for a long time, bacteria will grow.