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A 67-year-old man presented with a 2-month history of pain in his right buttock and lower limb. MRI depicted right L5/S1 lateral recess stenosis requiring surgical treatment; however, preoperative CT showed an approximately 7 cm long, thin, rod-shaped structure in the rectum, which was ultimately determined to be an accidentally ingested toothpick. It was removed surgically 6 days after diagnosis, because right leg pain worsened rapidly. The pain disappeared thereafter, and the symptoms have not recurred since. The pain might have been localised to the right buttock and posterior thigh in the early stages because the fine tip of the toothpick was positioned to the right of the anterior ramus of the S2 spinal nerve. Although sacral plexus disorder caused by a rectal foreign body is extremely rare, physicians should be mindful to avoid misdiagnosis.

Foreign bodies in the rectum are commonly confronted worldwide in the surgical emergency. Such a situation arises either accidentally or for autoerotic purposes. A wide variety of foreign objects have been reported in the literature and this usual object would add to the reports for its unusual location. We report a case of a 26-year-old young man with accidental insertion of hand shower in the rectum and no signs of any active bleed or peritonism. Extraction was done successfully in the operating room under general anaesthesia, with an uneventful postprocedure period and the patient was discharged after 48 hours of observation. Rectal foreign bodies can be of wide variety and can lead to life-threatening conditions. An orderly approach is required for diagnosis, management and evaluation in the postprocedure period.

A patient with chronic pain on methadone presented with difficulty passing stools and left lower abdominal discomfort for 7 days. His medical history was unremarkable. Abdominal examination demonstrated mild tenderness in the left lower quadrant. A routine rectal examination revealed a mobile object with a blunted end without blood on the examining glove. Blood work showed a normal complete blood count. Abdominal radiograph identified a rectal object. Endoscopy showed a pink-coloured rounded object with a smooth surface at 10 cm from the anal verge nearly obstructing the …