While digging into the man’s groin area to repair a painless bulge, surgeons unexpectedly found a live 10-inch-long (26 cm) worm in his abdomen. Adding to the weirdness, the man told the surgeons that this had actually happened before A case report in the New England Journal of Medicine.
A 71-year-old man opted for surgery to repair an inguinal hernia. Such protrusions are quite common, especially in older men, and occur when the muscles and tissues of the abdominal wall slip through a small gap or weak point in the abdomen, such as fat or a small intestine. This body leakage creates an external bulge that can be painful and uncomfortable in some cases. If the contents of the bulge get stuck, it can even be life-threatening, called a strangulated hernia. But, in other cases, the displaced internal parts are painless and loose and can be temporarily put back into place with a simple, gentle massage.
Most people with an inguinal hernia will need surgery at some point to repair a weak abdominal wall. But for older men without pain or discomfort, doctors may suggest watchful waiting, delaying surgery until the need is clear. That was it for this man. However, he chose to repair the inguinal tear on his right side.
Surgeons noted that the man appeared healthy before the operation and reported no symptoms other than a painless lump. His blood work likewise appeared normal, with no abnormalities such as an elevated white blood cell count that could indicate a parasitic infection. Surgeons opted for a laparoscopic procedure, making small incisions to insert instruments to strengthen the abdominal wall.
As they worked, they saw something whitish and stringy. It was wedged between the bladder and the pubic bone. Surgeons used forceps to grasp a visible loop, and then it took a lot of traction to gently slide the rest away. When they carefully removed it whole, they discovered it was a 26 cm (10.2 in) long tapeworm. He was still alive and slithering across the operating table. It is a picture of the surgical finding here.
