Doctors at Bombay Hospital removed a 17 centimeters long parasitic worm from a 45-year-old woman’ bile duct.
In a rare case, the doctors were shocked by the presence of a 17 cm long-live parasitic worm, Ascariasis Lumbricoides in a woman’s bile duct.
The woman is a 45-year-old from Crawford Market. Three weeks ago she underwent gallbladder surgery for the removal of her gallbladder stone at the Bombay hospital. The procedure involves an endoscopic surgery to remove the stone and the doctors place a stent in the bile duct. However, she suffered severe pain even after the surgery. The doctors were clueless about her pain as all her diagnostic tests were normal. They doubted the pain could be linked to the stent that was placed in the bile duct.
She was rushed to the emergency room with complaints of severe stomach pain. Even with the medication her pain is not reduced. Dr. Gajanan Rodge, a Gastroenterologist who treated the woman said that after the admission of the patient, all her diagnostic reports came back normal. A CT scan of the abdomen disclosed the CBD stent and some hyperintensities, likely stone particles in the biliary system. The CT scan showed no clear cause for abdominal pain. The doctor also said that the stone particles were improbable to be the reason for the pain.
Deeming the situation, the medical team planned to remove the bile duct stent and clear the stone particles to reduce the pain. Dr. Rodge and his medical team undertook an advanced (ERCP) endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography procedure. During the endoscopy procedure, they were shocked to find a white tubular structure arising from the bile duct. This weird structure kept disappearing back into the bile duct quickly.
Dr. Rodge said that with great difficulty and the assistance of retrieval catheter balloons, rat tooth forceps, and a Roth net basket the worm was successfully removed from the bile duct and isolated. The parasitic worm measures around 17 centimeters long or about 6.7 inches in length.
Dr. Ridge said that it is quite rare to find an adult live Ascariasis Lumbricoides measuring 17 cm if it is left untreated, it could have grown longer. He also said that he intends to propose this case to a medical journal.
The doctor suspected that the source of the worm could be the uncooked food or infected water. He said there is a possibility that there are other larvae in the body, so they have given deworming medication to the patient and they kept her under observation for regular checkups. The patient’s family has been prescribed deworming medication as a precautionary measure.
Ascariasis lumbricoides is a large parasitic roundworm. It causes ascariasis in humans. It is the most common worm in humans. It infects humans via the fecal-oral route. Male worms can grow up to 15-31 cm and female worms can grow up to 20-49 cm long.
References:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ascaris_lumbricoides
(Input from various sources)
(Rehash/Lavanya Beeraboina/MSM)
