A man’s late-night dried apple snack turned into a medical emergency when the fruit rehydrated in his gastrointestinal tract, causing a small bowel obstruction, Melbourne doctors report.

The patient, aged in his 60s, arrived at ED by ambulance with a one-day history of generalised sudden-onset abdominal pain.

The pain was associated with severe nausea, multiple vomits, subjective fever and diaphoresis, reported the surgeons from Austin Health. 

He was haemodynamically stable but clammy and appeared unwell.