Question: what would happen if something tore your stomach lining and all the food leeked out to your other organs?

Carly Bingham answered on 20 Jan 2025:

In the hospital, we call this a ‘perforation’ and it can be a real emergency. It can happen in lots of ways, such as during surgery, after a serious accident or because the person swallowed something like a magnet or a battery that causes a hole. In your stomach you have acid that helps the digestion process as well as the food you eat and this is not meant to be in your abdominal cavity. When this fluid escapes, it can can cause inflammation (swelling) and damage to other organs – this might cause bleeding and lead to an infection.
We take perforations very seriously as they can cause life long problems or in the very worst case scenario, people can die if not treated. Doctors are on call 24/7 to deal with things like this however!