MDOD

The Obligatory ED "Rectal Foreign Body" Post

Okay. Yes, we sometimes see patients who have put things up their butt and can not get them out. Here’s a little bit I wrote about a recent patient.

I noted the other night at work that shaving cream can be dangerous. It seems that American manufacturers have neglected to put a safety warning label on the cans. As you can see from this Xray, some of the lower priced brands can acutely migrate up one’s ass (necessitating removal in the operating room). We are not sure if this was mentholated cream or not, nor are we sure if it was the ‘gel’ or simply the foam. I will at this point avoid such obvious puns as, “Wow, that was a close shave!”, and “Looks like he got to us just in the nick of time”, or “It seems this gentleman was a little behind in his personal hygiene”. This is not a can lying on someone’s belly, it is well and fully disappeared behind the external anal sphincter. As you will also note, the plastic top to this can is on the business end, making removal even more difficult. In fact, the surgeon had to pull the little rubber stopper out of the bottom of this can in order to insert a gripping instrument to pull the can out. There was, in fact, a shaving cream fountain in the OR coming out of this guy’s ass. The final lesson for everyone? If you are homeless and drink a lot, do not hang out with other homeless drinkers who are, strangely, giving you their alcohol while snickering and trying to hide a can of shaving cream from your view.

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