Timely emergency treatment for a patient who swallowed thousands of snake bone fragments

Patient LTTh. (born in 1976, residing in Cai Rang, Can Tho City) was hospitalized with abdominal pain, constipation and bowel movements for 4 days, accompanied by severe pain in the anal area. Through clinical examination, rectal endoscopy and CT scan, doctors discovered that the rectal and anal areas contained many small bone-like foreign bodies, the cause of intestinal obstruction.

Doctors perform surgery on patients.

The patient said he had eaten a lot of boiled water lily snakes with lemongrass 6 days ago. Due to his damaged teeth, the patient did not chew thoroughly and swallowed almost the whole snake, including the bones. Two days later, he started having abdominal pain, constipation, and for the past 4 days, he has not been able to eat or drink anything because of severe pain in the anal area, with slight bleeding. Fearing colon cancer, his family took him to the emergency room.

Solid bone samples were removed from the patient's rectal area.

The surgery lasted nearly an hour, and the doctors removed thousands of small pieces of snake bone, ranging from 3 mm to 2 cm in length, that had accumulated densely in the rectal area. After removing all the foreign objects and flushing the rectum, the patient's digestive tract was cleared again.

According to doctors, this is a rare case, the patient is lucky because the bone fragments did not puncture the intestines causing peritonitis - a complication that can be life-threatening if not treated promptly.

Source: https://cand.com.vn/y-te/cap-cuu-kip-thoi-mot-benh-nhan-nuot-hang-ngan-manh-xuong-ran-i764232/