Professional athletes, suffered months-long mystery of complaints – it was the toothpick

Any symptoms that make doctors baffled at first

A professional athlete suffers after a meal, Nausea, diarrhea, and fever. The complaints will eventually be so strong that there is danger to life. At the end of a physician to discover the surprising source of his health problems. This is a simple toothpick.

The Physicians of the Massachusetts General Hospital studied the strange discomfort of a professional athlete and came to a surprising finding. They published their case report in the English journal “New England Journal of Medicine”.

A professional athlete is ill on a training trip

On a training trip with a professional athlete, developed after the ingestion of a meal, Nausea, diarrhea, and fever. The Affected person at the age of 18 years, went to a emergency room, to carefully examine. Doctors scanned his belly and made CT-scans. A few hours later, the athlete was sent back without finding in his Hotel. In the course of the next two weeks, the abdominal pain, fever, and diarrhea again, only a slight Nausea remained disappeared. The Affected person traveled with his Team and trained with low-intensity. Finally, the pain appeared again, this time it radiated to the right lower quarter of the abdomen in the back. In addition, blood pooling in the patient’s stool. The body temperature rose to 39.7 degrees, and the appetite of the Affected. A few days later, the athlete was again in the emergency room of a US hospital.

Pain occur time and again

On Palpation of the abdomen by the Doctors, the athletes responded to the painful Spots very sensitive. Nevertheless, the fabric for the experts felt really soft and healthy. The blood of the Affected person were normal, however, the heart raced a bit. Through MRI images, the physician has a allows a view of the organs. Here, too, there was an emergency, so the Doctors sent the patient back home. Only a few days later, the condition of the man deteriorated rapidly. The patient should be in the evening, a colonoscopy performed, he took the necessary laxative. Shortly thereafter, large amounts of blood were, however, in the chair, in addition he suffers pain, chills and belly. For the third Time in three weeks, the man must go to an emergency room.

The athlete suffers from an infection?

With the arrival of the athletes seemed in a daze. One study showed that a lymph node in the right groin area was enlarged. This is a clear indication of an infection. Blood samples and stool samples were taken and for an investigation sent to the laboratory. Towards the evening, the man already more than 40 degrees fever and the muscles of the Affected had stiffened. The pulse began to race, and the Patient made a confused impression. Apparently the man suffered from a severe infection, so he is on antibiotics. A feedback of the laboratories showed, finally, that in the blood samples actually rod bacteria were present, which occur in the digestive tract, and the most common pathogens of dangerous bacterial count in the bloodstream. These bacteria are referred to as Klebsiella Pneumoniae. Although the Patient took already on antibiotics, the fever the next day, to 40.6 degrees, in addition, the muscles of the patient stiffened again.

Doctors find toothpick in the gut

The Doctors began with a colonoscopy. The view of the tiny camera in the patient’s body disguised in a short time by blood. The expert way to flush the fluid, and discovered the life-threatening Problem for the patient. In the large intestine of man a wooden toothpick poked, about 25 centimeters from the Anus.

Various ingested foreign body can lead to dangerous wounds in the intestine. In most cases, your Problem does not fall at all and only the at least, patients can remind you that you have ever swallowed a foreign body. The risk to health by swallowed toothpick is extremely high. A total of 136 cases of swallowed teeth, this in 79 percent of cases, the intestinal wall picks punctured. In ten percent of the cases, such a swallowed toothpick even led to the death of the patient.

Toothpick was removed

The doctors removed the toothpick directly, however, with very serious consequences for the patient. By the removal of the Toothpick, the blood rushing, pulsing in the intestine. Of course, the experts tried to close on the site of the wound, the hemorrhage, however, remained still. This led to immediate emergency surgery had to be performed. The created x-ray images clearly showed that blood flows from the right common iliac artery in the colon. The 18-year-old Patient is held in an acute danger to life. Immediate surgery on the bowel had to be performed at the injured part of the vessel has been removed. The resulting gap had to be closed again, the experts use a vein from the leg of the patient.

Patient could only participate after seven months on the professional sports

The Affected person recovered quickly and was able to leave after a week in the hospital. Initially, the athlete was allowed to perform for six weeks, only walking, to vessels, and intestines were healed far that Aqua – and Ergometer-Training was possible. After that Training with the Jogging units, Sprints, and strength training followed. It took a total of seven long months, before the athletes had recovered from the incident with the toothpick and again on professional sports could participate. (as)