Chinese Man Requires Surgery After Inserting Charging Cable Into Urethra

A 49-year-old man from Xinzhou, Guangdong province, recently presented to hospital with severe abdominal pain and an inability to urinate for more than 7 hours, requiring emergency surgery. Out of momentary curiosity, he had inserted an 80-centimeter charging cable into his urethra but was unable to remove it, leaving it lodged in his body for over 7 hours. Unable to urinate and experiencing severe abdominal swelling and pain, he sought medical help. After detailed 3D CT scanning of the pelvic region, doctors found a 6-millimeter diameter charging cable tangled and coiled inside the bladder, causing severe obstruction of the urinary tract and significant narrowing of the lower urethra, preventing normal urine flow. Doctors performed an emergency surgical procedure that took several hours to successfully remove the entire cable from his body. After appropriate treatment, the man has since recovered and been discharged from hospital. Medical experts from Xinzhou First People's Hospital warned that the inner walls of the urethra are lined with delicate mucous membrane with many capillaries and have very low tolerance for irritation. Forcing foreign objects with hard edges into the urethra can easily cause tears or ruptures in the urethral wall, introduce bacteria leading to infection, and in severe cases result in kidney infection and life-threatening sepsis, as well as permanent damage to urinary and sexual function.