- The constipated 56-year-old waited two days before seeking medical attention
- In Britain, collecting objects from the rectum costs the NHS £340,000 a year
A Taiwanese man who pushed a coconut up his rectum had to have it ripped out by surgeons.
The constipated 56-year-old, whose name was not given, waited two days before seeking medical attention.
But he did not confess how or why he used the fruit in the first place.
Writing in the British Journal of SurgeryMedics claimed he was unable to urinate and complained of severe abdominal pain.
On examination, CT scans revealed that the fetus was lodged in his rectum, compressing the urethra and preventing him from urinating.
The constipated 56-year-old, whose name was not given, waited two days before seeking medical attention
Medics wrote in the British Journal of Surgery that he was unable to urinate and complained of severe abdominal pain. On examination, CT scans revealed that the fetus was lodged in his rectum, compressing the urethra and preventing him from urinating.
The date of the incident was not revealed in the case report by medics from E-Da Hospital in Kaohsiung city, located in the south of the country. The coconut, which was 9cm long, was then extracted via laparotomy – an operation that opened the abdomen
A 2021 study by the Royal College of Surgeons of England found that the number of objects requiring removal from the rectum by the NHS is increasing. Cases increased rapidly, especially among men
The date of the incident was not revealed in the case report by medics from E-Da Hospital in Kaohsiung city, located in the south of the country.
The coconut, which was 9cm long, was then extracted via laparotomy – an operation that involves opening the abdomen.
Medics did not reveal when the man was discharged.
However, laparotomy procedures often involve a hospital stay of up to five days and a recovery period of six to eight weeks, according to the NHS.
The retrieval of objects lodged in the rectum was first recorded in medical literature in the 16th century.
Besides corks, other items reportedly recovered from vaginas by doctors over the years include plastic aerosol cans, a plastic cup and even children’s toys.
NHS doctors are no strangers to dealing with similar incidents, with data analysis last year revealing that around 400 ‘foreign’ objects are removed from English anuses every year.
It was estimated that this would cost the taxpayer around £340,000 a year for things such as medicines to carry out procedures and the manpower of NHS staff.
But inserting objects into a rectum, also called anal play, carries a number of risks.
In addition to causing stuck objects, they can also perforate the intestines, which can be fatal because material from the digestive tract can pass into other parts of the body and cause an infection.