In one of the weirder medical stories you'll read today, an unfortunate man was diagnosed with a condition where he was made to poop from his penis, and ejaculate semen from his rectum.
Incredibly, the man persisted with his odd symptoms for two years before he finally decided to get medical help.
The medical team from the University of Texas who attended to the peculiar case published their findings in the Cureus medical science journal, and titled it A Curious Case of Rectal Ejaculation.
The unnamed man reportedly decided to get professional help after he endured five days of pain in his testicles – which the doctors found out was only a minor issue compared to the problems he'd been facing for the past couple of years.
Apparently, the man had been passing urine containing flatulence, passing fecal matter from his penis, and even ejecting urine and semen from his rectum – a condition so rare there isn't even a medical term for it.
To put things simply, the man had obviously been passing bodily fluids and waste from all the wrong holes long before he had even experienced the pain in his testicles.
Something's not quite right down there.
Upon initial examination, the man was discovered to have a swollen left testicle, with further checks diagnosing the presence of a urinary tract infection (UTI). A digital rectal exam also showed that the man had a problem with his rectal wall, while a full CT scan indicated the presence of a "gas-filled structure" in the area.
Eventually, the team discovered that the man had a fistula (or abnormal passageway) between his rectum and urethra, through which the mix of fecal matter, flatulence, urine, and semen had been passing.
It was ultimately decided that surgery would be performed to fix the man's condition, although the team wanted to ascertain any other reasons for the existence of the fistula. One by one, they ruled out conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease, rectal trauma, and even tuberculosis, but finally happened across one possibility – around two years before the discovery, the man had been in a three-week coma following a drug intoxication episode.
While he was in the hospital during his coma, the man was fitted with a Foley catheter (a tube passed through the urethra into the bladder to collect urine), which the doctors now think was inserted incorrectly. They concluded that this was the most likely cause of the injury and the presence of the fistula.
Thankfully, the surgical procedure conducted on the man went fairly well, with the procedure using part of his rectal wall to create a flap to seal the tunnel.
The doctors also added that had the man not sought help in time, he would have most probably ended up suffering from recurring UTIs, a possible kidney infection, and lethal sepsis.
They also added that the case was just another warning to doctors regarding the improper fitting of catheters, and used the man's case as a prime example of something going horribly wrong as a result.
"Physicians should note other potential risks such as urethral injuries," wrote the team. "This case not only highlights a rare complication of catheter use, but also emphasizes the importance of provider mindfulness when utilizing seemingly benign therapies such as Foley catheters."
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Cover image sourced from Men's Health.
