A 15-year-old boy from the UK reportedly required surgery after he got a USB cable stuck inside his penis.
Media reports state that he was taken to the hospital by his mother after he was unable to remove the USB cable, and after experiencing blood in his urine.
The boy was reportedly attempting to measure the inside of his penis with the cable in a bizarre form of "sexual experimentation" before it got knotted, thereby, making it impossible to take it out.
Once in the hospital, the embarrassed boy confessed to the doctors, without his mother being present, that he had deliberately inserted the cable.
According to the study published in November 2021 in the medical journal Urology Case Reports, the bizarre incident was “triggered by sexual curiosity.”
The boy had to reportedly undergo surgery because the doctors were unable to remove the cable with a metal rod due to the number of knots that had formed.
An insertion was made between his genitals and anus to allow access to the stuck cable, and catheters were then fitted.
Explaining the procedure, doctors wrote: "A longitudinal peno-scrotal incision over the palpable foreign body was made and careful dissection was undertaken through deeper tissues, splitting the bulbospongiosus muscle.
“Both ends of the wire were pulled out successfully through the external urethral meatus," the Mirror informs.
Doctors in the Science Direct report wrote, "The two distal ports of the USB wire were found to be protruding from the external urethral meatus whilst the middle part of the knotted wire remained within the urethra.
“The patient was an otherwise fit and healthy adolescent with no history of mental health disorders."
The teenager is reported to have made a speedy recovery and was discharged the following day, with his catheters removed a fortnight later.
However, he will continue to be monitored for long-term damage as according to experts, inserting foreign objects into the urethra can cause pain while urinating, blood in the urine, painful erections and urine retention.
The urology doctors add that such cases are not unusual, stating, "Sexual experimentation and gratification, as well as underlying mental disorders, are considered the main causes of retained foreign bodies in the urethra and bladder.
“Depending on the mechanism of insertion, and the size and shape of the object, they can cause delayed complications, mainly recurrent urinary tract infections, urethral strictures or false passages and bladder perforation, which may require major reconstructive procedures to restore the anatomy."
However, it's not just this youngster who has inserted bizarre objects into his urethra - the report names several other objects that have led to hospitalisation, including pins, needles, and even pistachio shells.
London andrologist Amr Raheem told the Daily Mail that the boy should thank his lucky stars. Inserting foreign objects in one’s private parts can lead to a host of complications, from urinary tract infections to urethral injuries.
It’s unclear why someone would engage in this type of invasive member-measuring method, but experts are of the opinion that it often stems from “sexual curiosity, sexual practice after intoxication, and mental disorders, the New York Post informs.
However, in this particular case – the boy has “no history of mental health disorders.”
Commenting on the above, Dr Raheem reportedly said that unfortunately, phallus-filling maneuvers are “becoming more common as everything is thanks to social media, and in general the easier ways that misinformation can be spread.”
