In a bizarre case, a man in Taiwan had to visit the hospital after a coconut became stuck in his rectum.
This gave him severe abdominal pain and made it impossible for him to pee.
Source: CNA
Doctors had to perform surgery on the man to remove the fruit, which measured 5.6cm in diameter.
The incident, which happened in the southern city of Kaoshiung, was published in the British Journal of Surgery.
According to the report, which was titled “Case of coconutention”, a 56-year-old man sought medical help after experiencing the following symptoms for two days:
When doctors at E-Da Hospital performed a CT scan on the patient, they found a “large foreign body” in his rectum.
Source: British Journal of Surgery
That object turned out to be a coconut, which reportedly measured about 7.5cm in length and 5.7cm in width, CNA reported.
The British Journal of Surgery stated that the coconut was compressing the man’s prostatic urethra, which in turn caused urinary retention.
Taiwanese news site China Times stated that his bladder was on the verge of bursting as the backflow of urine caused it to expand to about 2,000 cubic cm.
Source: British Journal of Surgery
Doctors eventually performed abdominal surgery to remove the coconut.
Speaking to China Times, Chen Chih-I, one of the doctors who published the report, said the incident was the first “coconut stuffing” case he encountered.
Recounting the incident, Dr Chen said the patient visited the emergency room alone.
When asked about the object in his rectum, the person only answered: “Coconut.”
He added that if treatment was delayed, the man ran the risk of having his bladder bursting or his rectum turning necrotic due to prolonged compression.
Dr Chen compared the procedure to a C-section. However, the difference is that the latter involves the uterus and the removal of a foetus.
After the surgery, staff at the hospital asked the man how the coconut ended up in his rectum.
The patient, however, was coy about the explanation.
Thus, the backstory to this strange episode remained a mystery even after he was discharged from the hospital.
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Featured image adapted from CNA and British Journal of Surgery.
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