Rectal foreign body

From Free net encyclopedia

Rectal foreign bodies are a common occurrence in hospital emergency rooms. In general, large foreign bodies found in the rectum can be assumed to have been inserted through the anus, rather than reaching the rectum via the mouth. It is often assumed that such cases are generally due to sex play by the patients or their sexual partners, although a great many patients deny this, claiming that the object was somehow inserted accidentally, for example by "slipping in the shower".

Sometimes smaller foreign bodies, such as bones eaten with food, can be found stuck in the rectum.

Rectal foreign bodies, and amateur attempts to remove them, can result in perforation of the bowel, a life-threatening medical emergency.

Medical literature covers examples of items retrieved from patients' rectums in extreme detail. Rectal foreign objects are also the subject of a number of urban legends.

[edit]

References in the Media

In the television show ER, there are several references to this, such as when Dr. Benton holds up a lower abominal x-ray with a flashlight lodged in it, noting, "The patient claimed that he fell on it while changing a lightbulb. Naked." Another episode had a medical student asking Dr. John Carter about the oddest object removed from a rectum. Dr. Carter responds that it was a bowling trophy.

[edit]