A first-of-its-kind study has revealed that on an annual basis, roughly 4,000 Americans visit the ER due to a foreign object being lodged in their rectums.
What Trends Did the Study Reveal?
EXCLUSIVE: 4,000 Americans are hospitalized each year with a 'foreign object' lodged in their rectum https://t.co/f8oq34BtUV pic.twitter.com/pEIrfEoaoF
— Daily Mail US (@DailyMail) August 28, 2023
Men were most likely to face such an embarrassing situation, with a whopping eight out of 10 patients being male. In terms of what age group was most likely to find itself in this predicament, the study showed that 20 to 24 year-olds were most likely to mistakenly lodge foreign objects in their rectums, followed by 25 to 29 year-olds, then 30 to 34 year-olds.
It seems that the older one gets, the less likely they are to accidentally lodge a foreign object in their rectum. This is likely due to older people having more experience with such acts.
As one may expect, sexual objects accounted for over half of the objects that these patients had lodged in their rectums. “Miscellaneous” objects followed, then bottles/jars. Drugs accounted for 5% of the lodged objects.
Why Was This Study Even Conducted?
According to official figures, about 4,000 Americans visit the emergency room every year after a “foreign object” is stuck in the rectum.
— Sprinter (@Sprinter99800) August 28, 2023
University of Rochester, New York researchers claimed to have been compelled to conduct this study after data in the UK, Japan, and the Caribbean revealed that this particular injury was becoming more common worldwide.
To conduct the study, the team accessed data from the US National Electronic Injury Surveillance System database. This database keeps a record of all reported injuries linked to consumer products at 100 emergency rooms across the US.
From here, they searched for cases involving a “foreign body” lodged in the “pubic region” or “lower trunk.” They found a total of 886 cases of foreign objects stuck in rectums. Afterwards, they used national population estimates to approximate the total number of foreign objects that get stuck in people’s rectums per year.
How Are Foreign Objects Removed From People’s Rectums?
The first method of removal is called manual extraction, which involves a doctor using their hands to gently manipulate the object out of the rectum.
If this fails, they try dilation, which involves the insertion of large cylinders into the patient’s rectum in an attempt to widen the anal sphincter until the object simply falls out.
In the most serious of cases, surgery is required, though this is rarely the case.
While anal insertion may be a common sexual practice, it can easily go awry if the practitioner does not engage in the activity safely.