Live 12-inch eel removed from Vietnamese man's abdomen after entering through rectum

The eel entered through the man's rectum and slid through his colon. (Representative Image)

A Vietnamese man had a live eel surgically removed from his abdomen and doctors believed it slid up his rectum. The discovery was made when the man, 34, complained of severe stomach cramps and went to the Hai Ha District Medical Centre in Quang Ninh Province.

Doctors at the centrebelieved the eel entered through the man’s rectum and slid through his colon, according to Oddity Central. An ultrasound and an X-ray were performed, that showed a foreign object lodged in his stomach.

“This is a rare case,” Head of Surgery, Pham Manh Hung. “The rectal area has a lot of fecal fluid and is easily infected with bacteria, but it was performed safely so the surgery did not have any problems.”

Emergency surgery was performed to remove the sea creature which was 12-inch long and found live inside the man's stomach. The eel had caused a life-threatening condition called peritonitis, a condition that causes inflammation of the stomach lining. It also caused intestinal perforation. The eel and some of the damaged tissue were carefully removed surgically.

The surgery was successful and the unidentified man was kept in the hospital. He reported mild abdominal pain after waking up. How the eel entered through the man's rectum and made its way from the colon to the abdomen still remains a mystery. Doctors were also baffled by the fact that the sea creature was found alive and was still alive after being taken out.