Abstract Small bowel obstruction is rarely caused by bezoars. An important cause of phytobezoars are dried fruits. A 56 year old man presented to our department with symptoms of acute intestinal obstruction. Abdomen was distended and tender at the right and left lower quadrants. Bowel movements were decreased, and rectum was empty on digital examination. Upright plain films of the abdomen revealed multiple air-fluid levels and patient was immediately operated on. Due to the ischaemia of short small bowel segment, resection and end to end anastomosis were performed. After resection, bowel was opened and an apricot was found in the small bowel lumen. Although the dried apricot was small enough to pass through the pylorus spontaneously, it became swollen in fluid and started to obstruct the small bowel lumen especially in the terminal ileum. Obstruction by undigested food is rare and mostly seen in children, edentulous older people and patients with mental disorders. In conclusion, dried fruits, when swallowed without chewing, may cause intestinal obstruction. Keywords: Bowel obstruction, Bezoars, Phytobezoars, Dried fruits, Ischaemia, Intestinal obstruction. Introduction Acute intraluminal occlusion of small bowel is uncommon, and among the intraluminal causes of small bowel obstruction (SBO) are gallstones, foreign bodies, retained meconium, bezoars, and tangles of ascarides. 1 Bezoars are concretions found in the stomach or intestines. They usually originate in the stomach and when they migrate to the small intestine can cause mechanical SBO. Most come into one of the five groups: phytobezoars, trichobezoars, lactobezoars, pharmacobezoars and food bolus bezoars. Obstruction by food bolus bezoars can stem from the amount of certain foods swallowed. Previous gastric surgery, incomplete mastication, rapid degluttition, swallowing of large nuts and pits, intestinal narrowing due to congenital bands, strictures, or physiologically narrowed segments and the presence of Meckel's diverticulum can be among the contributing factors. A great variety of fruit and vegetable matter has been reported in phytobezoars including persimmons, orange pits, grapefruit, mango, carrots, pickled onions, Brussel sprouts, green figs, and dried fruits. 2 We report a case of acute intestinal obstruction caused by a dried apricot swallowed during ingestion. Case Report (Informed consent was obtained from the patient for presenting this case report). A 56-year-old man presented to our department with the history of abdominal pain, distension, and vomiting for the last 4 days. Patient was unable to pass flatus for the last 2 days. There was no history of prior abdominal surgery, blood in stool, weight loss, or previous change in bowel habit. Abdomen was distended and tender at the right and left lower quadrants. Bowel movements were decreased, and rectum was empty on digital exam. The patient was on medication for chronic obstructive lung disease. The physical exam was otherwise unremarkable with normal complete blood count results. Upright plain films of the abdomen revealed multiple air-fluid levels. There was no free air in the abdomen or air in the bowel wall. An ultrasound examination of the abdomen was performed to confirm or exclude intussusception as a cause of the bowel obstruction. Evidence of an intussusception, one ovoid mass located distally within the small bowel lumen and dilatation of small bowel loops and to and fro movement of intestinal content was reported. There was a small amount of intra- abdominal free fluid. No evidence of strangulation was evident. The radiologic diagnosis was intestinal obstruction due to intussusception. An emergency laparatomy was performed. One mass was palpated within the ileal lumen 50 1130 J Pak Med Assoc An unusual cause of small bowel obstruction: dried apricots Metehan Gümüs, 1 Murat Kapan, 2 Akin Önder, 3 Güven Tekbas, 4 Yusuf Yagmur 5 Department of General Surgery, 1-3,5 Department of Radiodiagnostic, 4 Dicle University, Faculty of Medicine, Turkey. Case Report Figure: (A) Natural and dried apricot. (B) Swollen apricot which was the cause of obstruction. (C) Unchewed apricot removed from the obstructed segment of the bowel. (D) Chewed apricot which were removed from the bowel of the patient and did not cause obstruction.