Doctors were shocked after discovering that a man’s throat discomfort was caused by an eight-legged octopus that had become stuck in his gullet.
The unnamed patient in Singapore had reportedly first realized something was wrong when he started vomiting after he ate an octopus meal. The person also had trouble swallowing, prompting him to visit the Tan Tock Seng Hospital. Doctors conducted a CT scan, which revealed a super-dense mass in the man’s oesophagus. A subsequent esophagogastroduodenoscopy a gastrointestinal examination involving a small, flexible tube showed a tentacled octopus lodged two inches from the esophagus-stomach border like something out of Ridley Scott’s “Alien.”
After initial attempts to push or extract the animal were unsuccessful, medics navigated the endoscope past the octopus into the stomach and retroflexed it. They then used forceps to grasp the animal's head and removed it from the patient. Thankfully, the patient recovered and was discharged after two days. “The ‘push technique’ is the primary method recommended with high success rates, however applying excessive force can cause oesophagal perforation,” said the medical team.