Bottoms up: Stuck TV remotes, vapes and Lego removed from rectums at English hospitals

Thousands of “foreign objects”, including TV remotes, Lego bricks and vapes, were extracted from people’s bottoms by hospitals in England over recent years.

The items were revealed after more than 100 Freedom of Information (FOI) requests were submitted to nationwide hospital trusts, seeking data regarding “rectal foreign bodies” in A&E and urgent care departments since 2022.

In south London, medical staff at Lewisham and Greenwich hospitals extracted beer and shampoo bottles, a door handle, a toothbrush, and Lego bricks wrapped in balloons from patients’ rectums.

Hospitals across the Birmingham area logged multiple admissions to remove objects such as a coat hanger and a phone.

In Berkshire, clinicians removed a Nerf bullet, boiled egg, Coke can, potato, plus a deodorant bottle and toilet brush handle in a single instance.

Edible items extracted included cucumbers, courgettes, grapes and an apple.

Among some of the other items people needed help removing were TV remotes, children’s toys, a cocktail stirrer and a bank card.

Metal screws, tweezers, razor blades, a knitting needle, knives, paper clips and a screwdriver also made the list, as did a snow globe, branch, candle, Kinder egg, parsnip and wallpaper scraper.

An analysis of the data showed that more than 1,500 people attended A&E for a “foreign body in rectum” over the course of 2022.

Chris Nordstrom, an A&E consultant at Northwick Park Hospital, north-west London, said: “Thankfully, incidents of this kind are relatively uncommon but, when they do occur, our priority is to provide safe, compassionate and non-judgmental care.

“We would always encourage anyone experiencing difficulties to seek medical attention promptly rather than risk further injury.”

Of the 106 hospital trusts who received the Freedom of Information request, only 11 responded with an itemised list.

Some did not provide a list as they did not hold the information, while others cited the cost involved in collating a list as an exemption.