Doctors remove live eel from man's abdomen

In a rare and alarming medical incident, doctors at Viet Duc Hospital in Hanoi, Vietnam, carried out emergency surgery to remove a 60-centimeter live eel from a man's abdomen. The man, a 31-year-old Indian national, was admitted to the hospital on July 27 with severe abdominal pain.

The case began when the patient decided to insert the eel into his rectum in order to gain an unusual experience, a practice that doctors warn can have serious consequences. In trying to escape, the eel pierced the patient's rectum and colon, entering the abdominal cavity and causing considerable damage.

The deputy director of the hospital's Colorectal and Perineal Surgery Department, Le Nhat Huy, explained that the eel was detected through various imaging tests, including an X-ray that revealed its skeleton in the man's abdomen. The medical team initially attempted to remove the eel through the rectum, but found that the passage was blocked by a large file, also inserted by the patient.

Faced with this situation, the doctors opted to perform emergency surgery to open the patient's torso and remove the eel, which measured more than 25 inches long (63 Centimeters) and approximately 4 inches in diameter. Both the eel and the file were successfully removed. After the operation, a colostomy was performed to prevent fecal matter from passing through the internal cut caused by the eel's bite.

This incident has highlighted a worrying pattern, as the hospital has previously treated several patients who have inserted foreign objects into their rectums in search of intense sensations. Viet Duc Hospital has removed bottles, cups and toys, but this is the first case involving a live animal.

Le Nhat Huy warned of the dangers of introducing live animals into the rectum, noting that "eels can survive in anaerobic conditions for a long time and have the ability to bite through the gastrointestinal tract." He stressed that this practice is extremely dangerous and can result in unpredictable consequences.