Case Details
In January of this year, a 61-year-old male patient referred to as Mr. Chen presented at a hospital emergency department in an unspecified Chinese city. According to the patient, he had inserted a homegrown sweet potato — approximately 17 centimeters in length and 6 to 7 centimeters in diameter — into his rectum the previous evening at 11 PM. Progressive abdominal distension and pain developed, and self-removal attempts proved unsuccessful. He sought medical attention at 4 AM.
Imaging confirmed the object had lodged in the lower rectum, with mucosal congestion and edema present. Partial compression of the rectal wall by the object's tip indicated a risk of intestinal perforation.
Treatment
The medical team first attempted conservative extraction using specialized foreign-body forceps and a spiral-traction instrument. Both methods failed due to the object's smooth surface, severe rectal edema, and extremely limited operating space. Patient tolerance was poor, and the risk of object fragmentation and mucosal injury was assessed as significant.
After approximately two hours without success, the patient's condition deteriorated — worsening abdominal pain and low-grade fever indicated early infection, with vital signs becoming unstable. The team convened and determined that immediate open surgery was necessary. Through an abdominal incision, surgeons located the object and employed a coordinated approach — internal stabilization and gentle pressure from above combined with external traction by a colorectal surgeon — to safely extract the intact object.
Clinical Advisory
The attending physician, who described the case as among the most unusual in over two decades of practice, noted that a further delay of one to two hours could have led to ischemic necrosis and perforation of the rectal wall, potentially causing fatal peritonitis. The physician cautioned that rectal foreign body extraction is frequently more complex than anticipated, and that forceful blind traction of large or irregularly shaped objects carries a serious risk of rectal laceration and hemorrhage.
Related Cases
A similar case was reported in October 2025 in another city, involving a 40-year-old male who presented with abdominal pain and bleeding after being unable to expel a cylindrical metal object of approximately 20 centimeters. The object was successfully removed under anesthesia. A surgeon at the facility noted that the department had managed multiple rectal foreign body cases over the preceding year — involving objects including wooden sticks, an apple, and date pits — with cases attributable to sexual behavior accounting for over 60 percent of presentations.
Asian Editorial Department: Lu Junxiu