Man chews on a handful of grass to cover his cut, gets a 6cm long leech in his throat

While trapping rats, a 53-year-old man from Thach That district, Hanoi, cut his hand. He immediately picked a handful of grass, chewed it, and applied it to the cut.

When he got home, he felt a lump in his throat, a sore throat, and a feeling of an animal wriggling inside. When he looked in the mirror, he saw a part of a dark brown object moving, accompanied by symptoms of occasional hoarseness, sometimes loss of voice, and sometimes coughing up a little blood mixed with saliva.

At the hospital, an ENT endoscopy doctor discovered a “living foreign object” in the larynx. When using a light to examine it, the foreign object was firmly attached to the lower part of the glottis near the trachea. To facilitate the removal of the foreign object, the doctor anesthetized the patient.

The foreign object removed was a live leech, about 6cm in size. The patient is currently conscious, healthy, living normally and has been discharged from the hospital to return home with his family.

According to Master, Doctor Ha Manh Hung, Deputy Head of the Department of Otorhinolaryngology - Dentistry - Eyes, Central Endocrinology Hospital, this is a rare case of foreign body in the airway.

The foreign object after being removed was a live leech about 6 cm in size. (Photo: BVCC)

Previously, Yen Bai General Hospital also successfully removed a leech that had been living parasitically for many days in the trachea of a 62-year-old male patient, a Dao ethnic, residing in An Lac commune, Luc Yen district, Yen Bai province.

This man went into the forest and drank stream water. In the following days, he often coughed up blood and had a hoarse voice. Upon examination, the doctors discovered a leech wriggling in the trachea. The doctor performed an endoscopy and removed the leech. The leech was more than 5 cm long and was inside the man's trachea.

According to doctors, people with leeches living in their bodies often live in mountainous areas, rural areas or use water from streams and ditches. When leeches first enter the body through the water in the nose and throat, they are usually very small in size, but after a short time in the body, they will suck blood and grow very quickly.

Experts recommend that people should not use unsafe water sources, leaves, and wild vegetables from streams and ditches for drinking and daily activities, to prevent foreign objects from entering the body. When there are any unusual signs of health, people should go to a medical facility early for a proper diagnosis, to avoid the risk of foreign objects parasitizing the body and affecting health.

LIKE LOAN

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