Specialty emergency medicine ICD-9-CM 937 | ICD-10 T18.5 | |
 | ||
Rectal foreign bodies are large foreign items found in the rectum that can be assumed to have been inserted through the anus, rather than reaching the rectum via the mouth and gastrointestinal tract. Smaller, ingested foreign bodies, such as bones eaten with food, can sometimes be found stuck in the rectum upon x-ray.
Rectal foreign bodies, and amateur attempts to remove them, can result in perforation of the bowel, which is a life-threatening medical emergency. Rectal foreign objects are also the subject of a number of urban legends.
Instances
Rectal foreign bodies are not an unusual occurrence in hospital emergency rooms.
Medical literature contains numerous reports of items retrieved from patients' rectums.
Reported objects have included, among other items: seven light bulbs; a knife sharpener; two flashlights; a wire spring; a snuff box; an oil can with potato stopper; a toy car; eleven different forms of fruits, vegetables and other foodstuffs; a jeweler's saw; a frozen pig's tail; a tin cup; a beer glass; and one patient's remarkable ensemble collection consisting of spectacles, a suitcase key, a tobacco pouch and a magazine. There are also cases of alive animals inserted into the rectum: one man in China had an eel in his bowels. The fish died shortly after being extracted.