Fly inside Missouri man’s intestine sends internet buzzing with horror — scientists stupefied

In a stomach-churning revelation during a routine cancer checkup, doctors conducting a colonoscopy at the University of Missouri Health Care made an unprecedented discovery—a fully intact fly in a 63-year-old man’s colon. 

Described as an extremely rare finding in colonoscopy, the incident baffled medical professionals, with the insect found in the traverse colon, just below the liver.

The patient, who had undergone the colonoscopy at the recommendation of his primary care physician, left doctors astounded as they navigated the large intestine with a camera. Despite the pre-colonoscopy detox regimen, which typically flushes out contents from the digestive system, the fly remained intact, defying expectations.

The study reports the patient’s recollection of consuming pizza and lettuce two days before the procedure but offers no plausible explanation for the presence of the fly in the colon. 

Dr Matthew Bechtold, a gastroenterologist at the University of Missouri Health Care, expressed his disbelief, stating, “Having such an intact fly like this is just unheard of.” This case marks the first time in his 20-year career that he encountered such a perfectly preserved specimen.

The article draws attention to similar instances of unexpected foreign objects in unusual body parts, recounting a case from Taiwan where a spider was found in a woman’s ear canal and another from Vietnam where severe headaches were traced back to chopsticks lodged in a man’s skull for five months. 

The bizarre and rare nature of the fly discovery underscores the astonishment of medical professionals and raises questions about the unusual journey of the insect into the patient’s digestive system.