MISSOURI – A routine colonoscopy exam in Missouri leads to a bizarre discovery. Doctors recently found an intact fly inside one man’s intestines.
The American Journal of Gastroenterology shared more about this “mysterious finding” in a new case report published in October. It cites information from the Division of Gastroenterology within the University of Missouri School of Medicine in Columbia.
Officials say a 63-year-old patient had no known family history of colon cancer and prepared for the colonoscopy adequately. He was undergoing a normal procedure until doctors reached the transverse colon.
At that point, a camera used during the procedure spotted a fully intact fly that appeared to be dead. “The patient was unsure how the fly got into his colon,” said the AJG report.
The patient reportedly only consumed liquids one day before the colonoscopy and last recalled eating pizza two days before the procedure, but did not recall a fly within his food. Doctors consider this occurrence “very rare” and didn’t note any symptoms that suggested the patient ingested a fly.
The CDC coins this situation as intestinal myiasis, a medical condition in which flies may enter a gastrointestinal tract by depositing their eggs on food or in an area where the larvae can easily access the human body.
The patient’s case report is published in a AJG resource called Endoscopy: Pushing The Limits, Volume 118 and Issue 10.
