Man almost dies after eating 7-pound burger in Singapore challenge

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A seven-pound burger eaten in 30 minutes as part of a food challenge proved to be a near-deadly combo for a man in Singapore.

After the unnamed 30-year-old scarfed down the massive patty, his stomach was stretched so much that it was at risk of bursting, the U.K. Daily Mail reported.

A burst stomach, known as gastric perforation, can be fatal within hours. If untreated, it can lead to sepsis and multi-organ failure.

The blockage kept the man from passing gas or having a bowel movement and it took about five days to do so after arriving at a hospital.

A CT scan showed undigested food in his stomach and pressure on his organs, leading doctors to insert a tube through his nose to help drain it and reduce pressure.

The patient’s condition, however, did not improve. It was only as doctors were considering surgery to remove the massive amount of food in his stomach that the patient began passing gas, indicating that his digestive system was starting to catch up.

The strange case was reported in the journal Gastroenterology.

Stomach cleaning, the doctors’ method of sucking food out of the stomach, can be effective to reduce a swollen stomach if performed within 24 hours of an eating competition.

The method breaks up large pieces of food into smaller bits that are easier to remove, but surgical removal of the food can be required if the patient begins to show elevated levels of acid in the body.

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If the stomach is stretched for too long, it can lead to poor blood flow and even a stomach rupture.

Symptoms, including an elevated white blood cell count and excess acid in the body, were alleviated once the man started passing gas.

“Rapid and gross gastric distension owing to the consumption of food items that are not chewed results in large chunks of solid food particles accumulating in the stomach, preventing food from entering the duodenum (first part of the small intestine,” doctors said.

“The mass effect from the distended stomach worsens the condition by compressing the duodenum further. This effect could have resulted in the [severe inflammation of the pancreas] and acute kidney injury.”

Despite the risks, successful eaters like Joey Chestnut earn fame and money.