A Florida man has had an 8-inch screwdriver removed from his rectum after he went to the ER of his local hospital because of severe stomach pain. The 46-year-old man was rushed to emergency surgery and is very lucky to still be alive.
- A CT scan showed the real cause of his pain. The man’s doctors at the Kendall Regional Medical Center in Miami were flummoxed by the man’s report of having severe pain in his abdomen and pelvis. He was sent for a CT scan, where doctors discovered the screwdriver.
- The screwdriver had punctured his bowel. The case, which was published in the Annals of Medicine and Surgery, revealed that the screwdriver had caused a near-fatal bowel puncture that could easily have killed him had he not sought medical treatment when he did, especially since he’d gone into septic shock.
- Part of the man’s buttocks had to be removed. Sepsis had destroyed a portion of the man’s buttocks, which had to be removed to keep the infection from spreading further. He was also immediately given antibiotics to help eliminate the infection.
- Doctors tried to remove the screwdriver without operating. However, “hardened human waste” made doing so impossible, so the surgical team was forced to retrieve the screwdriver via the man’s abdominal cavity. While there, they discovered that the tip had perforated his large intestine and the tip had lodged itself in the buttock muscle.
- He had to get an ostomy bag due to the severity of the injury. Due to the destruction to his bowel and intestine, the man had to get an ostomy bag to remove waste as he recovers. However, he should be able to get a reversal in future.
- The man had a history of mental illness. According to the medical team, the man had a history of mental illness including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder and had recently stopped taking his medication. Therefore, in addition to receiving medical treatment, he was also given psychiatric help.
- He’s recovering well and getting the help he needs. “At two weeks follow up the patient was doing well,” wrote the authors of the study, which was led by Dr. Youssef Shaban. “The patient recovered and was discharged to Behavioral Health for inpatient treatment of his psychiatric disorders.”
- There’s no explanation for how the screwdriver got there or how long it had been there. While the authors said that sometimes people insert foreign objects for sexual pleasure or for “drug concealment, assault, ‘accidental,’ psychiatric reasons [or] to alleviate diarrhea or constipation,” it was unclear what happened here. “The patient may not be forthcoming initially with the critical information as it may be an embarrassing situation,” Shaban added.
