A Vietnamese man suffered severe internal injuries after a two-foot-long eel was inserted into his anus and bit through his intestines, Vietnam News reported.
Doctors in Vietnam successfully removed a two-foot-long live eel from a man's abdomen after it had chewed through his intestines. The incident occurred on July 27 when a 31-year-old Indian man was rushed to Viet Duc Hospital in Hanoi after complaining of severe abdominal pain. according to Vietnam News.
A live 2-foot eel chews through a man's intestines after being inserted into his anus https://t.co/k4jSQkeg3R pic.twitter.com/1BIUbfoP6j
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The patient had reportedly inserted the eel into his anus earlier that morning for sexual pleasure. An initial X-ray revealed the skeleton of an eel in the patient's abdomen, and emergency surgery was immediately performed, Vietnam News reported. Le Nhat Huy, deputy director of the Colorectal and Perineal Surgery Department at Viet Duc Hospital, said of the incident:
“The eel bit through the patient's rectum and colon and escaped into the abdominal cavity,” Huy said, according to Vietnam News. (Related article: Doctors discover 'dinner plate sized' surgical instrument in New Zealand woman's abdomen 18 months after C-section)
This photo shows eels in an aquarium at the Fisheries Research and Education Agency on the outskirts of Minamiizu, Shizuoka Prefecture, on October 25, 2021. (Photo by BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP via Getty Images)
A team of endoscopy experts and anesthesiologists from the hospital initially tried to retrieve the eel through a colonoscopy. However, this method was ineffective. As the patient's discomfort increased, the team was forced to opt for surgery. During the operation, the doctors found the eel alive and stretched to over 25 inches in length and about 4 inches in diameter.
The medical team removed the eel and thoroughly examined the patient for other foreign objects, the media reported. After removing the eel, the surgeons also removed a lemon from the patient's rectum. Due to severe fecal contamination in the abdominal cavity, the medical team opted to install an artificial anus to prevent the fecal matter from affecting the recently repaired tissue.
Huy warned of the dangers of inserting live animals into the body, noting that eels can live in anaerobic environments and can bite violently through the gastrointestinal tract. “People should never insert live animals through their anus in search of intense pleasure, as this can lead to unpredictable consequences,” he said, according to Vietnam News.