- The surgery was performed successfully and the man was quickly stabilised following the ordeal
Horrified doctors removed a 30cm-long live eel from a man’s belly after it ‘slid up his colon’ and ate through his intestine.
The 34-year-old man from the northern Quang Ninh Province, Vietnam, was admitted to hospital with severe abdominal cramps on Wednesday after complaining of stomach aches.
He was given an X-ray and an ultrasound, which showed that he had a foreign body lurking in his abdomen.
It had caused him intestinal perforation and peritonitis — when the inside wall of the abdomen becomes swollen and very painful.
The patient was given urgent surgery to remove the mystery object.
A Vietnamese man, 34, left surgeons horrified after they pulled out a foot-long eel from his belly during an operation
The eel was believed to have entered the patient’s body by entering his anus, sliding up his colon, and biting through his intestine
When the surgeons opened up his abdomen, they were stunned to see the slimy creature that had made its way inside the mans body.
Horror images show medics using tongs to pull out a giant eel as long as a standard ruler.
The surgeons proceeded to carefully remove the necrotic colorectal segment of the man’s intestines.
The delicate operation in Hải Hà district miraculously went without a hitch and the man was quickly stabilised following the ordeal.
He was kept in hospital under observation with only mild abdominal discomfort.
When quizzed about how the eel could have ended up in his belly, the patient couldn’t provide an answer.
But medics believe it entered his anus, slid up his colon, bit through his intestine, and entered his abdomen.
What stunned them most was that the eel was still alive when they removed it.
Doctor Pham Manh Hung told local media: ‘This is a rare case, the rectum is a site with abundant faecal matter and prone to infection.
‘However, the surgery was performed safely.’
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