HANOI – A 31-year-old Indian national in Vietnam nearly lost his life after inserting a live eel, about 65cm long, into his anus.

       Viet Duc Hospital in Hanoi on July 29 said the hospital’s doctors successfully performed emergency surgery to save the patient’s life.

       On July 27, the emergency department of the hospital received a male patient, 31, who arrived in a state of severe abdominal pain. Upon obtaining the patient’s medical history, it was revealed that he had inserted a large eel into his anus at around noon local time the same day.

       The patient was immediately examined, underwent imaging, tests and an ultrasound scan. The X-ray images showed a radiopaque skeleton lying horizontally in the abdominal cavity from left to right.

       Mr Le Nhat Huy, deputy director of the Colorectal and Pelvic Floor Surgery Centre at Viet Duc Hospital, said the hospital promptly arranged a team of endoscopy experts and anaesthesiologists to perform a colonoscopy in an attempt to remove the foreign object through the anus.

       Unable to reach the eel via the anus and with the patient’s pain increasing, the team decided to perform emergency surgery, added Mr Huy.

       Upon opening the abdomen, the doctors discovered a live eel about 65cm long and 10cm in circumference in the patient’s abdominal cavity.

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       “The eel had bitten through the patient’s rectum and colon to escape into the abdominal cavity,” Mr Huy added.

       After removing the eel, the doctors also extracted a lemon through the anus. Upon checking there was no other foreign objects, the perforation in the rectum and colon was sutured.

       However, due to the high contamination of the rectum and the presence of faecal matter in the abdominal cavity, the doctors decided to create a colostomy to prevent faeces from passing through the newly sutured perforation.

       According to the doctors, many people, especially young men, have a tendency to seek unusual sensations using sex toys.

       Viet Duc Hospital had previously performed surgeries to remove various objects through patients’ anuses, such as wind-oil bottles, glass cups and adult toys. However, this is the first case involving a live animal, specifically an eel, being inserted into the rectum and causing perforation.

       “Eels can survive in anaerobic conditions for a long time and have the ability to bite through the gastrointestinal tract. Therefore, people should never insert live animals through the anus to seek intense sensations due to the unforeseeable consequences,” Mr Huy warned. VIET NAM NEWS/ASIA NEWS NETWORK