MAN HAD TOOTHPICK STUCK INSIDE HIS BUTT

A strange medical tale was detailed this week in BMJ Case Reports. A 67-year-old Japanese man had been experiencing two months of pain along his right buttock and thigh. They were about to operate for a nerve condition call stenosis, but right before the operation, when they performed a CT scan, they found a surprise in his rectum: a 2-and-a-half-inch (7-centimeter) stick determined to be a toothpick that the man had accidentally swallowed. Doctors surgically removed the toothpick and his pain went away. Doctors theorize that the pointy end of the toothpick had ended up right next to one particular branch of nerves in the spinal cord, causing enough pressure to account for the localized symptoms along the man’s right butt and leg.
* Too much fiber in the diet.
* Something you never want to hear from your doctor: “We found a surprise in your rectum.”
* Rectum? He could barely walk!
* Lucky it wasn’t a chopstick.
* Ehhh… which end do you suppose it went in?