Doctors Remove Drinking Glass From Man's Colon; No 'Convincing Explanation' How It Got There

A team of doctors in India have managed to extract a drinking glass from the colon of a 55-year-old man, who had been suffering from acute constipation and abdominal pain.

Due to unbearable pain, the man, who hailed from the state of Bihar, was taken to a local hospital. His ultrasound and X-ray reports showed something was seriously wrong with his intestines.

The doctors, who performed the surgery Sunday, were baffled to find the drinking glass in his colon. Dr Makhdulul Haq, who headed the team of surgeons, called it was a mystery, media reports said, citing the Press Trust of India reported.

"How the glass tumbler [drinking glass] ended up inside, is at present a mystery," Haq reportedly said. "When we inquired, the patient said he swallowed the tumbler while having tea. That is, however, not a convincing explanation. The food pipe of a human being is too narrow for the object."

Doctors initially tried to remove the drinking glass out of the rectum through an endoscopic procedure "but that did not work out. So we had to cut open his abdomen and extract the tumbler after making an incision in his intestinal wall," Haq said.

After the removal procedure was completed, the patient was in a stable condition, Manorama News reported [Google Translate showed]. However, the recovery was likely to be time-taking since after the surgery the colon was sutured and a fistular opening was created through which he can pass stool.

"His colon is expected to heal in a few months after which we shall close the fistula and his bowels will then function normally," he added.

It remained unclear how long the drinking glass had been inside the man's colon. The identity of the patient has not been revealed.

"Our understanding of the human anatomy says there is only one way the glass tumbler could have ended up where it was. It was shoved into his body through the anal opening. But digging deeper into the facts may bring out sordid details that the patient might not be willing to share. We, as doctors, are duty-bound to protect his privacy," Dr Haq said.