Some 14 roundworms were pulled from a woman's bile duct by surgeons after she arrived at a hospital in India with severe abdominal pain she had suffered over six months, the Times of India reported.
Fortis Hospital, Shalimar Bagh, reported Tuesday that it was rare to find roundworms bile duct, not to mention that many, the publication said. The woman checked into the hospital not only with stomach pains, but with a high fever, spells of vomiting and episodes of jaundice.
Doctors advised the patient to undergo an abdominal CT scan where they found worms occupying her bile duct, the Times of India said. Physicians removed all the worms using snares and forceps.
"Once properly diagnosed, we managed to remove all the roundworms endoscopically in a single session," said Dr. Arvind Khurana, head of the Fortis Hospital gastroenterology department, according to the British South West News Service. "Immediately after the removal, the patient was pain-free."
The roundworms measured from six to eight inches, according to the Times of India.
"Occasionally they can migrate to the bile duct causing pain, fever and jaundice. There have been cases where we have seen two or three round worms in the bile duct. However, to see 14 worms is extremely rare," Khurana continued.
The woman, identified by only the first name Sunita, told the Indian Express that she had used antibiotics initially to stop the pain, but nothing she used helped.
"With time, I could not digest food and vomited three-four times a week," Sunita said, according to the Indian Express. "I kept suffering from jaundice. I was too weak to stand and had lost over 12 kilogram (26 pounds) in a month. Thankfully, they were able to diagnose my condition… I feel much better now."
Physicians told the Indian Express that the life cycle of roundworms, found in areas of low sanitation, start when eggs from adult worms in intestines are passed out with faeces, leading to contamination of the soil.
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