Doctors discover ‘half-eaten’ octopus stuck inside throat of man in Singapore

The doctors in Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore were left flabbergasted after they discovered an eight-legged octopus stuck inside the oesophagus (food pipe) of a 55-year-old man. The patient had been complaining about facing difficulty in swallowing from the time he had a meal, which included the mollusk. The man said that after he had the meal, he started vomiting. He was also facing difficulty in swallowing, which forced him to pay a visit to the Tan Tock Seng Hospital.

A CT scan of the patient was conducted by the doctors, which revealed the presence of a super-dense man in the oesophagus of the man, as reported by the New York Post. Later, the doctors carried out an esophagogastroduodenoscopy, which is a gastrointestinal examination involving a small, flexible tube, during which they found a tentacled octopus stuck two inches from the oesophagus-stomach border.

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After many failed attempts to pull the octopus from the throat of the man, the endoscope was manoeuvred past the animal and then retroflexed, which allowed the doctors to extract the creature.

Then, the doctors used forceps to grasp the head of the octopus and pull it from the throat of the man. Two days after the surgery, the man recovered well and was discharged from the hospital.

Food obstructions - a common issue

According to the doctors present in the hospital, food obstructions are among the most common issues which are encountered at the facility. In around 10 per cent to 20 per cent of cases, endoscopic intervention is important, while 1 per cent of them need surgery, they stated.

“The ‘push technique’ is the primary method recommended with high success rates, however applying excessive force can cause oesophagal perforation,” the medical team stated.

In 2016, a similar case was seen when a 2-year-old boy in Wichita, Kansas was hospitalised after an octopus got stuck in his throat during an apparent sushi session which went awry.

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came to light when an octopus was found inside the throat of a two-year-old boy in Kansas, United States. A 36-year-old man was arrested in the case on suspicion of child abuse as doctors had also noticed injuries on the boy's face. Meanwhile, around six people die every year from eating sannakji, which is a live octopus dish that is considered a delicacy in South Korea.

Fatalities generally occur when the suckers adhere to the sides of the throat of the diner, which causes asphyxiation to the victim.

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