Glass tumbler extracted from man’s colon in Bihar

PTI, Feb 22, 2022, 11:09 AM IST

Muzaffarpur (Bihar): A 55-year-old man, suffering from acute constipation and abdominal pain, was on Sunday operated upon by a team of doctors here who extracted a glass tumbler from his colon.

The hospital in Madipur locality of the town, has, quite understandably, piqued the curiosity of medical experts and laypeople alike, all of whom have been left wondering as to how the object made its way into the patient’s alimentary canal.

According to Dr. Makhdulul Haq, who headed the team of surgeons, the patient hails from Mahua in the adjoining Vaishali district and his ultrasound and X-ray reports had shown that something was seriously amiss with his intestines.

Sharing video footage of the surgery and the X-ray taken before the operation with the media, Haq said “how the glass tumbler ended up inside, is at present a mystery.

“When we inquired, the patient said he swallowed the tumbler while having tea. That is, however, not a convincing explanation. The food pipe of a human being is too narrow for the object”, he said.

The doctor said initially an attempt was made to pull the glass out of the rectum through an endoscopic procedure “But that did not work out. So we had to cut open his abdomen and extract the tumbler after making an incision in his intestinal wall”, said Haq.

The patient is stable, said Haq adding that recovery is likely to be time-taking since after the surgery the colon has been sutured and a fistular opening has been created through which he can pass stool.

“His colon is expected to heal in a few months after which we shall close the fistula and his bowels will then function normally”, he added.

Although the patient had regained consciousness after the operation, neither he nor his family members were willing to speak to the media.

The doctor offered a possible explanation for their reticence.“Our understanding of the human anatomy says there is only one way the glass tumbler could have ended up where it was. It was shoved into his body through the anal opening. But digging deeper into the facts may bring out sordid details that the patient might not be willing to share. We, as doctors, are duty-bound to protect his privacy”, said Haq.