Matt Lanter Says He's 'Lucky to Be Here' as He Reflects on Emergency Abdominal Surgery Three Years Ago (2025)

Matt Lanter is sharing an important message with fans, while looking back at how some "pretty intense stomach pains" led to an unexpected emergency surgery three years ago.

The 90210 alum, 41, wrote on Instagram last week that he was marking the third anniversary of an ER visit, which was initially determined to be "food poisoning" — yet turned out to be something far more severe.

Alongside an image of himself in the hospital from 2022, Lanter shared a caption in which he detailed the ordeal and how he soon discovered an intestinal blockage that required "immediate surgery." After initially being given pain medication and sent home with "no real answers," Lanter recalled telling his wife Angela Lanterthat he needed to return to the hospital that same night.

"They admitted me and gave me more morphine," he wrote. "It wasn’t enough for the intense pain. From that point on, I was on a steady diet of Dilaudid every four hours."

One of the "worst things" about his hospitalization, Lanter wrote, was "having two male nurses pin me down and force me to swallow an NG tube.," which he called "SO anxiety inducing." For the three days to follow, Lanter took his pain medication every four hours, before a specialist eventually said they again believed he had "food poisoning."

A "couple hours later," a doctor returned to Lanter's room and told him he needed surgery, the actor recalled, calling it an "emergency situation" with surgeons already on their way to the hospital.

"I had a small intestinal blockage," Lanter wrote. "I had so much inflammation in my body (that’s another story) that my small intestine had squeezed its way through some existing scar tissue which acted like a rubber band, clamping down on it and essentially shutting down my digestive system."

The surgery "went well," Lanter added, noting that he "spent a few more days in the hospital."

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"Unfortunately my NG tube came out too early and had to be put back in a second time, which meant again, I had to swallow the thing," he wrote. "Aside from that, abdominal surgery recovery was tough, but at least we had the answers."

Lanter was in "danger of going septic" had he waited another 12-24 hours, he wrote, quoting his surgeon.

In his Instagram caption, he pointed to reasons why he's "lucky to be here": "Surgery is usually more effective if performed within 24 to 48 hours of symptom onset. I was at more than 72 hours," Lanter wrote. "About 5% to 30% of people with small intestinal obstruction die within 30 days of surgery."

"Anyway. I feel grateful to be here. Grateful to be with my family. Grateful to watch my daughter grow. I’m just feeling grateful for today."

Lanter also gave props to Angela for being a "bulldog" and not accepting answers until doctors would "do more scans and do them again until they find something." Angela previously detailed the Jupiter's Legacy star's hospitalization in 2022, when she revealed that he had been diagnosed with a "closed loop intestinal obstruction" and was in recovery.

Several fans and friends commented messages of support under Lanter's latest post, with The Wire star Tristan Wilds and Virgin River actor Benjamin Hollingsworth among those who celebrated his recovery.

"love you brudda," Wilds wrote. "thank God they found out what it was and that you were able to come back stronger than ever!!!! 🤲🏽🤲🏽🤲🏽"