Doctors struggle to remove golf ball stuck in 14-year-old boy’s colon

Doctors in Australia successfully removed a golf ball trapped in a 14-year-old boy’s intestine after a hectic procedure.

According to a  report by the Case Reports in Surgery medical journal, the boy put the ball in his anus and notified his mother upon realising he was unable to retrieve or pass it. They presented to the Royal Adelaide Hospital emergency department.

“He was not in any pain and was able to pass flatus. The patient had attempted to defecate in order to expel the golf ball without success,” doctors said in the report published January 6.

Upon examination, medics said they found no evidence of bowel obstruction or trauma to the perineal region.

“The patient underwent an examination under general anaesthesia, and on rigid sigmoidoscopy, the golf ball was seen located within the sigmoid colon, beyond the reach of straight surgical instruments,” the report said.

In the over-2-hour process that ensued, doctors unsuccessfully tried to remove the golf ball with various devices, among them a suction cup, medical net, looped snare, quad-prong grasper, retrieval pouch and balloon catheter.

“Taking into consideration the family’s reluctance to undergo more aggressive intervention (e.g., laparotomy) and with the absence of colonic obstruction, we decided to trial volume laxatives to facilitate passage of the golf ball,” doctors said.

“In total, 1 L of glycoprep (Fresenius Kabi, Bad Homburg, Germany) was administered orally, resulting in the successful evacuation of the golf ball 3 hours later.”

They noted that the patient “remained clinically well” after passage of the golf ball, and was discharged the same day.

“There was no evidence of bowel injury. He was advised against inserting further objects into his rectum in the future,” the report added.