Live Eel Removed from Man’s Abdomen in Shocking Emergency Surgery in China

In a bizarre and shocking medical case, a 33-year-old man from Hunan province, China, arrived at the emergency room of the First Affiliated Hospital of Hunan Medical University with excruciating abdominal pain, cold sweats, and a pale appearance.

A CT scan revealed a mysterious foreign object that had pierced the man’s stomach and entered the abdominal cavity, causing peritonitis — a potentially fatal condition. Emergency laparoscopic surgery was carried out immediately.

To their astonishment, surgeons discovered a live, foot-long eel wriggling inside the man’s abdominal cavity. The eel had punctured the intestinal wall and was freely moving between the organs, increasing the risk of severe internal infection.

Doctors removed the eel using clamp-like tools, repaired the hole in the man’s sigmoid colon, and flushed the cavity with saline solution. The patient has since recovered and been discharged.

Although doctors have not officially disclosed how the eel entered his body, public speculation quickly filled the gap. Social media users didn’t hold back with wild guesses and memes, with one sarcastically writing:
“Everyone knows how it got in.”