Foreign Objects in Body Cavities

Specialties Emergency

Published

This is how they present in triage. You note that they appear anxious, possibly in a bit of pain, sometimes they are very matter of fact. We've all seen em. Retained foreign object in various body cavities. Kids with beans up their noses, beads in their ear canal, men with various household products in their rectum, women with various toys gone horribly bad.

With the adults you try really hard to look concerned and serious. This is a delicate subject and boy do they watch your face for even the slightest hint of a laugh. Now I'm not talking about assaults, that can be awful. I'm talking of grown adults that really should know better. A spray can just does not belong up ones bum.

How do you handle this? How do you write the complaint on the chart? Do you send the object to pathology as you would any other material? What do you put in the discharge instructions?

When I worked on a general surgery floor, I had a very friendly, verbal retarded man who had a habit of placing objects in his rectum and/or urethra. He'd put a pen up there and done some damage, went to the OR and got fixed up. The next night his nurse was escorting him to the bathroom when he began bleeding out and passed out cold on the bathroom floor. She called a code, it was a big to-do, but all was well.

Not a very exciting story, but he was such a nice guy, I remember him well.

My daughter had to go to the ER she had a plastic eyeball stuck in her nose. :rolleyes:

I can't wait till I'm done with PN school.... I want stories to tell...lol

Was it TLC or News that I saw an x-ray of a psych pt who swallowed coins. Ended up with something like 20 pounds in his stomach. I didn't even think of the weight of that- I just thought- "UGH, imagine how many germs are on those coins!!"

I recently took a Certified Food Manager refresher course and the instructor stated that because of the composition of coins that germs don't remain on them.

pain in orifice...yea, no kidding!

goes to xray...

fb found in rectum (nooooo?????)

too high up for removal in er (thank god!)

has to go to surgery...sorry or friends!

his response...is that where it went?!!?

in all honosty -- i am thinking that these seemingly innocent household items (ketchup bottles, coke bottles, toilet plungers, fruit, etc) should come with a warning label on them like cigarettes...

warning from the surgeon general: if object gets stuck up your a$$ and you could die. maintain a distance of at least 3 feet away from any idiot's bu++h0le. do not store near slippery bathtubs and place dangerous phallic household items above waist level when mopping the kitchen floor neked!

maybe even a nice little public service announcement on the tv every now and then.

lol -- my abs hurt from laughing so hard!:rotfl:

good one!!!
GOOD ONE!!!

I'm glad you got a laugh. I have never been an ad major -- general public probably would not like my sense of humor, but I am glad you guys got a laugh.

hee he heee

hi, i myself have not had any experiences with f.o. below the waist line, however, on my days off they seem to visit the er. 2 men, one 18 and the other 45 had glass thermometers break off in ther urethra/bladder region and another 18-20 yr old with a bingo marker/dobber up his rectum. They were all experimenting! go figure!

Specializes in ER, ICU, L&D, OR.
hi, i myself have not had any experiences with f.o. below the waist line, however, on my days off they seem to visit the er. 2 men, one 18 and the other 45 had glass thermometers break off in ther urethra/bladder region and another 18-20 yr old with a bingo marker/dobber up his rectum. They were all experimenting! go figure!

I would rather not try to figure that one out

This was back in my paramedic days - I brought in an lady who overdosed on a variety of medications. At the ER, I was helping the nurses place a foley catheter in the lady. The nurse was having a hard time advancing the catheter, she pulled it out and along fell out a ring. Then we started looking and found a gold necklace and top it off a Men's large size gold Timex watch. Yes, it was ticking!! For a month afterwards, when I dropped off a patient to the nurses that were there I would ask them what time is it?

Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.

it's amazing what little old ladies will store "up there". i've found dentures, crackers and a little packet of cheese. never anything valuable, though!:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

We had another guy who came in with a glass coke bottle (open) stuck in his bum with the open end up. We all placed bets on how they were gonna get it out because of the vacuum it had created. When we were standing in the hall and heard the glass break, I coughed up my ten bucks and laughed for days. The funniest part? He drove himself to the ER. Hope he didn't hit any speed bumps!:rotfl:

LMAO :chuckle :rotfl: :chuckle

i worked in long term care and we had a patient that was put on a strict diet... she weighed nearly 300 lbs. her family were the noncompliant ones. they would bring her snacks in all the time. one night before her "weigh day" she was complaining of lady partsl burning. so the 3 of us... rolled her over and we found her recent snack... a 3 peice chicken snack... taters and roll included... all stuffed "in my pocket" she giggled. maybe we should get this one and the one with the dentures together... :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww :imbar :imbar :imbar :imbar :imbar :imbar :imbar :imbar :imbar :imbar :imbar :imbar :imbar :imbar :imbar :imbar :imbar :imbar :imbar :imbar :imbar :imbar :imbar :imbar :imbar :imbar :imbar :imbar

yuck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Had a little old guy come in once c/o abd pain X 3 days. Abd firm, dist and tender. NO clue here or by anyone else. Off for a KUB he goes. Some time later, I get a call saying he was getting scoped....and alot of giggling going on. Shortly thereafter pt arrives on a gurney and the Rad nurse slaps a film down as he passes by....with a big azz grin on his face. We looked at the xray and I about died! MY first FB patient. There it was a 16 oz glass coke bottle...You could even read the "Coke" label on it. Someone had written on the film

"Coke, it's the real thing"

LOL!!!!

We all wanted to steal that film so bad! It would have been a great coffee table conversational piece!

Yup, he said he "musta fell on it":rotfl:

+ Add a Comment