French hospital treats man with bombshell up his rectum, bomb disposal team called

An emergency department in southern France was forced to call in a bomb disposal unit after a man arrived at hospital with a World War I artillery shell lodged in his rectum.

Rangueil Hospital in Toulouse was plunged into disruption late on Saturday night, January 31, when the patient presented at Accident and Emergency section suffering from intense pain.

Medical staff quickly realised the situation posed a potential safety risk and alerted authorities.

According to reports in French media, the patient was a 24-year-old man who told doctors he had “inserted an object” into his rectum, without initially revealing its nature.

Further examination revealed the object to be a historic shell dating back to the First World War, prompting hospital officials to evacuate parts of the department as a precaution.

Local newspaper La Depeche reported that bomb disposal experts were dispatched to the scene to assess and safely manage the situation.

"They (the medical team) discovered it and they called the bomb disposal team," said the source.

The patient was admitted overnight Saturday to Sunday.

He told staff at Rangueil hospital that he had introduced the object into his rectum himself, the newspaper reported.

The team in the operating room found themselves having to extract a "collectible shell nearly 20 centimetres long" (nearly eight inches).

They called the bomb disposal team because of fears about the risk of an explosion.

Emergency services in Haute-Garonne said firefighters had also been sent "to ensure fire protection during the bomb disposal team's intervention".

"An explosive device has been neutralised", they added, without elaborating.

A fire service spokesman and the local hospital service both told AFP they had no additional information on the matter.