On May 24, Thong Nhat General Hospital in Dong Nai confirmed it had successfully performed surgery to remove a foreign object - a roughly 50cm eel - from a patient’s abdomen.

Earlier, at noon on May 23, the hospital admitted V.V.L., 41, from Phuoc Tan Ward, suffering from severe abdominal pain, rapid heartbeat and dangerously low blood pressure. Following examinations, ultrasound scans and CT imaging, doctors identified a long, cord-like foreign object inside the abdominal cavity, along with a large amount of fluid, suggesting peritonitis caused by a perforated hollow organ.

During surgery, the medical team found pus and inflammatory membranes throughout the patient’s abdomen, clear signs of severe peritonitis. Further exploration revealed a large eel inside the abdominal cavity, which surgeons then removed.

Additional examination showed a perforation measuring around 2x1cm in the patient’s rectum, identified as the point through which the eel had penetrated into the abdominal cavity. Doctors repaired the injury, sutured the perforation and thoroughly cleaned the abdomen to prevent the infection from spreading further.

According to doctors, the patient arrived at the hospital suffering from septic shock, severe infection and widespread peritonitis. Immediately after surgery, he was transferred to the Intensive Care and Poison Control Department for specialized treatment.

The patient is currently undergoing blood filtration, intensive resuscitation and close monitoring. Doctors described the case as extremely rare, warning that the risk of death would have been very high without timely medical intervention.

Hoang Anh