The variety of strange and incredible things that get lost and then found again inside the human body

The professor and director of the Clinical Anatomy Learning Center at Lancaster University tells us what are the strangest objects that are lost and then found in the human body.

Doctors in the US state of Missouri recently made a surprising discovery: they found an intact fly in the colon of a 63-year-old patient who was undergoing a routine examination. Doctors had no idea how the fly survived as it passed through the patient’s digestive enzymes and stomach acid on its way.

As an anatomy professor, I come across many stories like this, of strange things found inside people – foreign bodies, as we call them. Below I will tell you about some of them.

A lady in Taiwan recently made headlines after a spider and its exoskeleton were found in her ear. Spiders inside the body are quite rare and those who suffer from arachnophobia will be happy to know that, despite what they say, we do not ingest eight spiders a year while we sleep.

However, an unfortunate British postman swallowed a spider, was bitten and suffered an unpleasant consequence: his throat swelled, making it difficult for him to breathe.

While a person serving as a home for a spider probably didn’t do so by choice, they simply ingested or inhaled it unintentionally. The vast majority of cases occur with children, especially when they are learning to wean.

Unfortunately, the localization of these objects in the respiratory tract is one of the most common causes of death in children under three years of age.

Children tend to put objects in their mouths, noses and ears. Objects found in the mouth and nose are normally inhaled and lodge in the respiratory tract, causing suffocation and subsequent expulsion of the object.

The objects that children commonly inhale range from the familiar (toys, beads, magnets) to the unexpected (leeches and needles). And the elements inhaled vary depending on the region of the world. In Western countries, peanuts are the most common, while hot dogs cause the most deaths.

In Southeast Asia and China it is bones and seeds, with most cases occurring during the Lunar New Year. And in Middle Eastern, African and Mediterranean countries, nuts or seeds often cause problems.

Several studies also show that men are much more likely than women to inhale foreign objects.

Accidental inhalation also poses an increasing risk as people age and lose muscle tone. Sometimes things end up “going to the wrong place”, especially food. But the dentures were also lost.

In some cases, objects accidentally inhaled by a child can go unnoticed for decades. A postman in Preston, England, inhaled a toy traffic cone as a child, which was only discovered when the man underwent a lung test after developing a persistent cough at the age of 47.

In another case, despite the fact that not 40 years have passed since its discovery, the pea inhaled by a man remained long enough to begin to germinate in his respiratory tract.

Ingested objects

While inhalation is one reason things are found there that shouldn’t be in the human body, ingestion is another common route.

Children are once again the group most likely to end up in the emergency room due to ingesting foreign objects such as coins or small toys. Most of these elements will pass harmlessly through the digestive tract.

About 20% of objects, however, need to be removed with an endoscope (tube inserted into the mouth or anus), and 1% need surgery to remove them.

Magnets pose a greater risk when more than one is ingested, as they can attract each other through rings in the intestinal wall, causing ruptures.

Ingestion of metal objects that remain lodged, without symptoms, may pose a future risk if they contain ferrous metals, making them magnetic. If a person undergoes an MRI, the object may move or heat up, causing damage.

On the other hand…

Although the mouth is one of the entry points into the body, some people lose objects from the other end, which could be the vagina or rectum.

Vaginal foreign bodies include those that are medically necessary and those that are present for other reasons. Typical vaginal foreign bodies include pessaries (used to treat some gynecological conditions) or damaged intrauterine contraceptive devices that the patient forgets are there or does not realize are damaged.

They pose long-term risks due to possible infections, fistulas (an abnormal opening between one hollow organ and another or between a hollow organ and the surface of the skin), and stone formation.

There are also cases of objects found in the anus and rectum. Between 66% and 85% of people who go to the emergency room with this disorder are men.

One of the biggest problems with foreign bodies in the anus and rectum is that they can become lodged, blocking the natural movement of intestinal contents. Over time, this can cause the tract to stretch significantly and risk perforating or tearing the intestine.

There are many reasons why people insert foreign objects into the anus, ranging from erotic reasons (most common) to relieving constipation (less common).

If the motivations are different, the variety of elements found for this purpose is even greater. These include apples, eggplants, brushes, pens, carrots, pesticide containers, deodorant cans (which pose a fire hazard during surgical removal), drinking glasses, soft drink bottles, baseballs and – probably the most agony as big as we imagine – a whole coconut.

The problem with rectal foreign bodies is that the sphincters, responsible for holding stool inside the body, will do the same with objects pushed past them. And many of these objects will stretch the rectal muscle wall to the point where it can’t generate enough force to push the object out, which often means surgeons will have to cut the patient open to retrieve the object.

Therefore, objects entering the body, whether accidentally or intentionally, carry the risk of death from suffocation or bleeding. If an object is inhaled, swallowed or inserted, this is reason enough to consult a doctor.

If they are flies, however, there is not much that can be done.

*Adam Taylor is Professor and Director of the Clinical Anatomy Learning Center at Lancaster University, UK.

**This article was published in The conversation and reproduced here under a Creative Commons license. Click here to read the original English version.

Source: Terra

Ben

Ben Stock is a lifestyle journalist and author at Gossipify. He writes about topics such as health, wellness, travel, food and home decor. He provides practical advice and inspiration to improve well-being, keeps readers up to date with latest lifestyle news and trends, known for his engaging writing style, in-depth analysis and unique perspectives.