WORST CASE OF CONSTIPATION EVER

According to a case reported in the BMJ Case Report., doctors in Australia have intervened after a man became so constipated his fecal matter gave him paralysis in one of his legs. A 53-year-old took himself to the emergency room with abdominal pain that had been building for three days, swelling and nausea. More alarmingly, he was experiencing pain in his right leg, which he was unable to move for the past 24 hours. The leg had no palpable pulse and was cold to the touch. His medical history revealed no drug taking, no risk of vascular disease and no significant medical history to speak of. It turns out he just really, really needed to go number 2. A rectal examination revealed that the man had impacted stools. A scan of his abdomen revealed he was suffering from massive fecal compaction. His fecal matter had become so backed up, it had distended his large intestine and put pressure on his right iliac artery. This pressure caused the pain in his leg, as well as the paralysis. Doctors were able to remove approximately 2 liters of feces. Four days later he was able to leave the intensive care unit, though it took him another 13 days before he was able to walk again. The doctors did not report on the cause of his build-up.
* Probably he had company in the house and was, you know, embarrassed.
* They billed the guy $10,000 for the surgery, and another 15 hundred for enough Febreeze to de-funkify the operating room.
* BMJ Case Report? Bowel Movement Journal?
* And speaking of back-ups, let’s do a check on traffic.