Does Coca-Cola dissolve Bezoars?
Recently, the carbonated beverage Coca-Cola (The Coca-Cola Company) has been successfully used to dissolve bezoars. We report 3 patients with gastric phytobezoars who were successfully treated with a combination of Diet Coke (The Coca-Cola Company) and cellulase.
How do you treat Bezoars with Coke?
Breaking the bezoar with Coca-Cola, which was first reported in 2002 by Ladas et al, has been performed in five patients and successful outcomes have been obtained by irrigating the stomach with three liters of Coca-Cola given through a nasogastric tube within 12 hours.
How do I dissolve a bezoar?
To help break down and dissolve a bezoar, a doctor may prescribe cola or cellulase for people who have mild symptoms. Cellulase is dissolved in water and taken by mouth for 2 to 5 days. Doctors may also give another drug taken by mouth called metoclopramide.
Can Coke help a partial bowel obstruction?
Researchers at the medical school of Athens University found that of the 46 patients who were given Coca-Cola to treat the blockage, the treatment cleared the blockage in half, 19 patients needed additional non-invasive treatment, and four needed full surgery.
How long does it take Coke to dissolve a bezoar?
The mechanism by which Coca-Cola dissolves the bezoar is based upon its low pH, CO2 bubbles, and sodium bicarbonate content. “… patients given a continuous infusion of Coca-Cola by nasogastric tube over 12 hours showed complete resolution of bezoars.
Does Coca-Cola unblock bowels?
In about 50% of cases studied, carbonated soda alone was found to be effective in gastric phytobezoar dissolution. Unfortunately, this treatment can result in the potential of developing small bowel obstruction in a minority of cases, necessitating surgical intervention….Carbonated soda treatment of phytobezoars.
| Phytobezoar | |
|---|---|
| MeSH | D001630 |
| MedlinePlus | 001582 |
How much Coke should I drink for intestinal blockage?
While a much larger volume of Coca-Cola is recommended for gastric bezoars (6), there are no reports describing the recommended volume for the treatment of small bowel obstruction. We chose to administer 500 mL through a long intestinal tube for two hours to avoid the development of abdominal pain and distension.
How do you get rid of bezoars naturally?
The first-line treatment for bezoars is typically to see if the concretion can be dissolved. It isn’t often your doctor will recommend you drink a diet soda, but this is one of those rare cases. Studies have shown that drinking Diet Coke, along with taking cellulase, can dissolve some phytobezoars over several weeks.
Can you vomit up a bezoar?
Symptoms and Complications of Bezoars Lack of appetite. Feeling full after eating a small food portion. Vomiting. Nausea.
What can Coke dissolve?
The active ingredient in Coke is phosphoric acid. Its pH is 2.8. It will dissolve a nail in about 4 days. This one entry screamed that it just can’t be true….Introduction.
| Quantity | Item |
|---|---|
| 2 oz. | Vanilla Coke |
| 2 oz. | Cherry Coke |
| 2 oz. | Pepsi |
| 2 oz. | Dr Pepper |
Can Coke get rid of a bezoar?
For another 40%, Coke was used first to make the bezoar smaller and softer, and then the remaining chunk was either broken up or removed using an endoscopic tool inserted into the stomach. This is very encouraging news, lead researcher Dimitrios Kamberoglou, MD, told me, when you consider the other treatment options for bezoars.
Can Coca-Cola and cellulase be used to treat bezoars?
Since anecdotal reports had previously suggested the possible efficacy of Coca-Cola and cellulase for treatment of bezoars and there is no known significant toxicity for either of these agents, institutional review board approval was deemed to be unnecessary. Discussion
What is the best way to dissolve bezoars?
Other case reports have shown similar success rates for the dissolution of bezoars with cellulase ingestion, and Coca-Cola ingestion has been successful for bezoar dissolution in a case report.5,6,14 A limitation of this treatment approach is the lack of readily available, standardized-dose cellulase capsules without other digestive enzymes.
What are the side effects of Coca Cola bezoars?
Coca-Cola Cures Bezoars. This chunk is called a bezoar. Bezoars can cause nasty symptoms, such as feeling full after eating only a small amount of food, abdominal pain and vomiting. The chunks also can lead to gastric ulcers, intestinal bleeding, intestinal obstruction and even gangrene of the digestive tract.