Doctors find leech in man's throat after coughing up blood for two months
Doctors have removed a huge pulsating leech from a pensioner’s throat after he coughed up blood for two months.
The medical experts warned of the dangers of drinking raw water after the 10-centimetre leech was found to have been living and growing inside the pensioner’s throat for two months.
The patient surnamed Li, 60, had been trying to cure his itchy throat and bloody cough for two months but was repeatedly misdiagnosed.
The mystery behind his painful and chronic cough was finally solved when he sought out specialists at the Xingwen County Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine in the city of Yibin in south-western China’s Sichuan Province.
Dr Zhang Dadong performed an endoscopy on the pensioner and immediately discovered the fat leech living on the walls of his windpipe.
The slippery animal proved difficult to retrieve, so he enlisted the help of his colleagues who managed to calm the leech using an aerosol sedative.
Shocking photos show Zhang pulling the leech out using a pair of forceps.
Li, who is from the rural township of Daba, is believed to have ingested leech eggs through drinking raw water.
The larva hatched in his throat and fed on his blood for two months, increasing in size until it grew to its current 10 centimetres.
Zhang has advised members of the public to boil their water for their own safety.
– Australscope
