A new case report revealed the shocking extraction of a six-foot long pork tapeworm infesting the small intestines of a 48-year-old man from India.
The case report, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed that the doctors in India was able to pull out a Taenia solium tapeworm through the mouth of the patient.
Also known as pork tapeworm, Taenia solium can be acquired by eating raw or undercooked meat infested with the cysticerci, or larval stage, of the worm. When ingested, the tapeworm would take residence and mature in the intestine of its host. The tapeworm will continue to grow if left unattended and can even attach in the intestine, producing thousands of eggs.
In the case of the patient from India, doctors discovered the worm after the patient underwent a colonoscopy. Before his colonoscopy, the patient reported to be suffering from "tolerable" abdominal pain for two months.
"It was an undulating, moving piece of the worm," Dr. Cyriac Phillips told KBZK. "This worm segment was confirmation that there was a tapeworm infestation in this patient."
After confirming the existence of the worm, the doctors performed an endoscopy to take a peek at the patient's intestines. The doctors then proceeded in sedating the man and pulling out the tapeworm through the patient's mouth using a pair of forceps.
The tapeworm extracted from the patient measured 6.1 feet in length. The doctors needed to pull the worm softly and steadily, taking them about an hour and 15 minutes to finally pull out the whole worm. Dr. Phillips noted that the he have never seen a tapeworm that long before. Fully grown tapeworms typically measure 6.5 feet to 23 feet in length, One of the longest tapeworm ever recorder measure more than 26 feet long.
The doctors prescribed praziquantel to that patient after the procedure. The praziquantel is a medication used to treat parasitic worm infection, killing any eggs or larvae that infested the patient's intestines.