Have you recently heard about this condition online? Sadly American Canadian actor Matthew Perry recently passed away suddenly with his cause of death sadly ketamine related. He was only 54 years old and famous for his acting role in Friends. With news of his death, came lots of articles about his life including his ‘exploding colon’ which was diagnosed in 2019. Have you heard of this condition before?

In the medical profession it is referred to as a perforation of the bowel. It is a very serious condition and can be life threatening. Thankfully it is rare and unlikely that you will experience this condition. The most common causes of a bowel perforation include – infection (such as clostrium difficile or ‘c diff’), inflammation (conditions such as ulcerative colitis and Crohns disease), bowel obstruction (which could be cancer related) and trauma (seat belt injuries in car accidents).

In Matthew’s case, unfortunately the perforation was medication related. Opiate medications such as morphine, codeine, Tramadol and some antidepressants can cause severe constipation. This slowing of the gut can lead to a distension in the bowel lumen with time (mega colon). The hardness of the stool within the colon can be very hard to pass and causes a rise in intra-luminal pressure within the bowel. Hard stool can then sometimes bury a hole in the bowel wall leading to a bowel perforation.

A bowel perforation usually causes symptoms of severe abdominal pain and can lead to life threatening infection.

If you are worried about this condition or take the above medication, we would recommend seeing a health professional. Your medication can be reviewed and there are lots of ways we can protect the bowel from this complication developing.

At The McCarthy Clinic we would be happy to review you and your bowel symptoms.